Heirloom Wheat Asparagus Pizza
Heritage wheat flours make a delicious sourdough pizza crust to pair with tender asparagus, shallots, preserved lemon slices and a cheese duo of classic mozzarella and robustly flavored manchego.
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 9 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- Dough for three pizzas
- 500 grams khorasan whole grain flour or white sonora whole grain flour (3 3/4 - 4 cups)
- 360 grams water (1 1/2 cups)
- 100 grams sourdough starter (1/3 cup)
- 11 grams salt (2 tsp)
- 14 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
- Dough baker's percentages
- *see Notes for help with calculations
- 100% heirloom wheat whole grain flour
- 72% water
- 20% starter
- 2.2% salt
- 2.8% olive oil
- Toppings for three pizzas
- 12 ounces/340 grams asparagus (uncooked weight), chopped in 1-inch pieces and sauteed
- 3 shallots, diced and sauteed
- 1/2 Tbsp oil for the pan
- 6 ounces/170 grams shredded mozzarella
- 6-8 ounces/170-227 grams manchego cheese, grated
- 1/2 lemon, preserved if possible, sliced thin ** see Notes for preserved lemon recipe that needs 5+ days to ferment
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1
I like my pizza dough process to be low-key so I mix the dough one or more days before I want to bake it. For this recipe, I'm refrigerating during the first rise when the dough has risen by >50% if I'm baking the next day, or when it has risen by <50% if I'm baking several days out. The dough usually continues to rise in the refrigerator, and on the day I plan to bake the pizzas, I assess how close it is to double in size to decide if it needs any time at room temperature before dividing and shaping. Once shaped, the final proof is 1.5-2 hours. The whole process is quite forgiving and doesn't have to be precise.
- 2
Dough Mixing and First Rise
- 3
Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl except for the oil. Cover and let the dough rest 20-30 minutes, then work in the oil with several minutes more of mixing. I did both stages of mixing in my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
- 4
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled straight-walled container if you have one. Cover and let rise for several hours. If you want to bake the pizzas the same day, let the dough double. If you want to bake the pizzas the next day, refrigerate the dough when it has risen by a little more than 50%. If you want to eat pizza several days out, refrigerate the dough when it has risen by less than 50%.
- 5
Topping Prep
- 6
On pizza day, prep your toppings. Grate the cheese(s), slice the lemon, and chop the asparagus and shallots. Make sure you remove all the woody ends on the asparagus stalks. Saute the asparagus and shallots in oil until just tender or to your preference.
- 7
Dividing and Second Rise
- 8
When the first rise is finished, lightly oil your work surface and a 9x13 baking pan.
- 9
Divide the dough into three 325-gram pieces for three 10-12" diameter pizzas. Shape the pieces into balls. You can make larger or smaller pizzas if you prefer.
- 10
Place the dough balls in the oiled pan and cover.
- 11
Let the dough rise again for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- 12
Topping and Baking
- 13
At least 30 minutes before the dough is finished proofing, begin preheating your oven to 500°F with a baking stone or steel on the middle shelf.
- 14
Place a dough ball in the center of a piece of parchment paper. Hold one side of the paper and with your other hand, press the dough outward from the center of the ball in the opposite direction. Rotate around the dough over and over until your pizza is 10-12" in diameter.
- 15
Top to your liking and put the pizza in the oven using a pizza peel or in a pinch, an upside down baking sheet.
- 16
Bake for 9 minutes, switching to broil for the final minute if desired. Keep the oven on broil an additional minute before you load the next pizza. This reheats the surface of the stone before you switch back to bake mode and load the next pizza.
- 17
Remove the pizza from the oven with your peel and put it on a cooling rack to keep the bottom crispy if you're not eating it right away.
- 18
Repeat with the next pizza and so on.
- 19
Serve with additional lemon to squeeze on the pizza if desired.