Pizza with Asparagus, Spring Onions, Pancetta, and Ricotta

Name: Pizza with Asparagus, Spring Onions, Pancetta, and Ricotta
Yield: makes four 8-inch pizzas
Ingredients: 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 6 cups thinly sliced spring onions or yellow onions; Kosher salt; 1 pound asparagus; 1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese; Freshly ground white pepper; Pizza dough (page 192); Cornmeal or durum flour for dusting; 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 20 paper-thin slices (4 to 5 ounces) pancetta, in coiled rounds

December 22, 2011

In late spring, when California asparagus are still available and the Cakebread garden is yielding the year’s first onions, Brian makes this delicate pizza bianca (a “white pizza,” or pizza without tomato sauce). The fresh-dug onions haven’t been cured yet, so they don’t have papery skins, and their flavor is mild. Many supermarkets sell “spring onions” that look like thick scallions with a bulbous root end. They would work in this recipe, as would leeks or even cured yellow onions, but uncured onions have the most delicate taste. Choose a fresh ricotta without pectin or other stabilizers. The Bellwether Farms ricotta from neighboring Sonoma County is our favorite.

Recipe notes

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