;)
two-fer
Posted by Erika in rad*kitchen
I’ve finally discovered that I need to do Meatless Monday on Sunday in order to post on Monday. I realized last night, post dinner, dishes, clean-up and kid to bed routine, that I am way to fried to concentrate on writing. So, sorry about the delay….I hope that the meal makes up for the tardy posting.
Today is more like flexitarian Monday. Vegetarian, sometime fish-eaters dinner. It was imperative that I utilize the remainder of last week’s asparagus harvest, mostly because I needed to make room to pick more.
I also had a pizza dough that needed to be used and some thawed shrimp that I didn’t want to leave until tomorrow night. Voila! Asparagus Shrimp pizza….and as an added bonus, I used the bottom halves of the asparagus spears to make pesto, for yet another last-minute meal.
It should also be said that you could opt out of using the shrimp to make this a truly meatless meal. Also, since we’re not traditional pizza sauce fanatics, the discovery of the greek yogurt base alternative is a boon, especially from a health standpoint. It is by far the best base I’ve used for a “white” pizza. It holds it’s creamy texture, doesn’t dry out and has no fat and only 90 calories for the whole container. Wahoo!
Let’s get started, shall we?
Asparagus Shrimp Pizza
6 oz herbed yogurt
¾ lb asparagus
8 oz raw shrimp, thawed if frozen
1/8 teaspoon Sambal Oelek (Asian Chile-garlic paste) – totally optional
1 ½ cups grated Gruyere
salt / pepper
3-4 cloves roasted garlic
Herbed Yogurt:
6 ounce container fat-free greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used marjoram and thyme)
salt and pepper to taste
Stir well.
Pizza preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly steam asparagus, about 3-4 minutes, just until starting to soften. Should be bright green.
Prepare the herbed yogurt.
Cut trimmed asparagus spears in half (saving the bottom part for the pesto) and split tops lengthwise. The bottom parts that you reserve for the pesto should not be the woody parts of the stems, those should be trimmed prior to cutting the asparagus.
Lightly sauté the shrimp and set aside. The shrimp should be fully cooked about 3-4 minutes in a hot pan. If you opt to use the spicy Sambal, add to cooking shrimp and toss before removing from heat. Once shrimp is cooled, chop roughly.
Roll out dough to preferred thickness. Spread with generous amount of herbed yogurt, fully covering dough. Dot dough with large chunks of roasted garlic. Evenly arrange shrimp and asparagus tops for full coverage. Top with shredded Gruyere and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until sides and top are golden brown.
Yogurt:
Cut trimmed asparagus spears in half (saving the bottom part for the pesto) and split tops lengthwise. The bottom parts that you reserve for the pesto should not be the woody parts of the stems, those should be trimmed prior to cutting the asparagus.
Roll out dough to preferred thickness. Spread with generous amount of herbed yogurt, fully covering dough.
Dot dough with large chunks of roasted garlic.
Evenly arrange shrimp and asparagus tops for full coverage.
Top with shredded Gruyere and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until sides and top are golden brown.
Serve to an eager and hungry group!
Part Deux:
Asparagus walnut pesto
approximately 1/3 lb asparagus stalk bottoms, trimmed and steamed
2 cloves raw garlic, peeled
1/3 cup raw walnuts
¼ cup shredded or shaved asiago or parmigiano reggiano
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Blend thoroughly in food processor and refrigerate in airtight container. Will keep for up to 4 days. Also freezes well.
Add ingredients to processor:
Blend well.
Great for pasta, chicken, crostini.
