I first took note of Spring when I found Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms growing in my backyard! I was doing the dishes one day and looked out the window to see these poofy looking things all over the ground. I figured my dog, Midnight, had taken a crap and went outside to clean it up. But oh no, those were not turds but gorgeous morel mushrooms! I picked a handful, ran to a farmer’s market and got a positive ID on the fungus. Indeed, California Black Morels!

I learned that the morels were likely in my garden as a result of the mulch I laid down last summer. I asked some tree surgeons to dump a load of mulch off at my
house and the next day had a mountain of fresh smelling fir chips. I’m a lucky bastard, the spores of morels cling to the bark of fir trees and that is why I was blessed with 2 pounds of mushrooms in my yard this spring!

After getting the OK to eat these mushrooms, I began hunting and finding them everywhere. I was literally crawling on my hands and knees when I noticed spears of ASPARAGUS. I started laughing out loud at this point! What kinda garden is this?

The asparagus needed no identification but I did have the great fortune to meet with a veggie gardener. He informed me that the asparagus was not wild but likely the remnants of an old vegetable garden planted years back. Asparagus grow a bit like bamboo—they send out runners and the plants are hard to kill popping up spears year after year. But who would want to kill this awesome treat? I quickly harvested the giant spears in the yard and began plotting my dinner.

Asparagus and morel mushrooms pair beautifully together. In celebration of the spring I rocked out this simple, pizza with clean pure flavors. Making your own crust is easy to do and something everyone should take a stab at. For this dough I was just playing around and decided to use the spelt flour to create a healthier and super thin crust. Feel free to use any type of mushrooms for this, or reconstitute dried morels in hot water. Any way you want to do it is fine, this is a pizza after all…COVER IT WITH LOVE!

SPRING SPRUNG PIZZA with MORELS, ASPARAGUS and ARTICHOKES

Crust
1.5 C flour*
1 packet of active dry yeast (that’s 7 grams or 2.5 teaspoons)
1/2 C warm water
1 TSP or honey (or sugar)
1 TBS olive oil
1 TSP sea salt

*I enjoy mixing flours. Traditionally you should use half all purpose flour and half semolina but why not chuck in some whole wheat or spelt or whatever you’ve got lying around? For the pizza in the photo I used 1 C spelt and 1/2 C whole wheat.
Oh, you’ll need extra flour for dusting so have some in a bowl nearby.

First up you gotta activate that yeast. Dissolve it in a bowl with 1/2 Cup of lukewarm water and the teaspoon of honey. Set this aside for about ten minutes till the surface is foamy from the yeasties coming alive and feeding on that sweetness.

Put the flour in a bowl, add the salt, the yeast water and the olive oil. Mix it all together with your hands and then transfer to a work surface and start kneading for a good five minutes. If you want, you can do all this in a food processor…after the dough is brought together you’ll still want to knead it but only for about 2 minutes or so. I’m a traditionalist and like to do it by hand but if I’m pinched for time…rock that processor!

OK. The dough is now smooth right? Good! Dust it with some flour and put it in a bowl and cover with a lightly dampened tea towel or plastic wrap (I hate plastic but it works well for this) and place in a warm area in the kitchen—how about next to the oven which is heating up? Great idea! Let it sit there till it’s roughly double in size…a good 45 to 90 minutes.

Preheat that oven to 450 degrees! I also highly recommend placing some large, non-coated, terracotta stone tiles on the rack in your oven. You can cook the pizza right on these. You’re free to spend extra cash on a fancy “pizza stone” but it’s the same thing as a buck fifty’s worth of tiles from the hardware store. Cooking the pizza on stone is extra nice but a baking sheet works fine too! At any rate, you need to figure out how you will get your dough into the oven…either place it on an upside down cookie sheet or a board to slide it into the oven. I have a wooden pizza palate like the pros. Think before you build a giant pizza on a counter…you need to be able to slide it into and out of the oven.

Now that the dough is poofy and big, punch it down to get the air our. Flour the surface of the vessel you’ll build the pizza on and slide into the oven. Flatten the dough out with your hands and roll it out into an amoeba-shaped circle. Make the shape fun! You can use a rolling pin or an empty wine bottle for the rolling…start in the middle and roll out and away from you. TOP THE PIZZA with my awesome morel and asparagus recipe or whatever you like and…

…bake the baby for about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it! Don’t let the crust burn!

Eat it hot, hot, hot!

Morel, Asparagus and Artichoke Topping
Oh man. This screams SPRINGTIME and GREGORY!

1/4 C Morel Mushrooms chopped
2 Asparagus spears, raw (giant ones)
2 Artichoke hearts, cooked (giant ones)
1 piece of bacon or a TBS of pancetta (optional)
Fresh herbs—cilantro or parsley or thyme
1/3 or a 1/2 C White or rosé wine
Zest of a lemon
Parmesan or Pecorino Romano Cheese
Salt and Pepper

Heat up a pan and add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil (I can’t help it, I love butter with shrooms) and add the bacon and mushrooms. Stir this occasionally but cook till the pig is done and you can smell that incredible, earthy mushroom thang. Chuck in your asparagus (The bigger the spear the more tender and flavorful it will be!) and artichokes and let ‘em get a nice sear too. Throw in a small handful of torn herbs, stir and deglaze the pan with the wine. Reduce the wine till it’s nearly all gone or thickened nicely and spoon this mixture onto your pizza crust. Top with some shavings of Pecorino Romano and the zest of a lemon and season with salt and pepper. Easy, beautiful and pure!

Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes…