Lars Smith, a member of the U.S. Pizza Team and owner of State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria in Los Altos, California, created this specialty pizza—featuring Galbani mozzarella and a flavorful asparagus sauce made with Galbani Parmesan—for the 2020 World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy. Then the pandemic hit.
The COVID-19 onslaught forced the Parma event to be canceled as people around the world sheltered at home to prevent the spread of the virus.
Rather than leave a delicious winner on the shelf, Smith was kind enough to demonstrate this pizza recipe from his own kitchen in a video he created at home. Give it a try, make your own tweaks, and this could become a customer favorite!
Related: California Dreamin’: Checking on Lars Smith’s State of Mind
Asparagus Pizza Recipe
Pizza Ingredients:
13 oz. pizza dough
3 oz. asparagus sauce
4 oz. Galbani Thin Sliced Fresh Mozzarella
2 oz. rolled pancetta (thinly sliced)
2 oz. asparagus tips (sliced in half)
1.5 oz. wild arugula
1 oz. asparagus stalk (shaved with a vegetable peeler)
Extra virgin olive oil
Piment D’Ville or Esplette pepper
Galbani Parmesan cheese
Asparagus Sauce
1 bunch of asparagus
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 c. of blanched and peeled almonds
1/4 c. Galbani Parmesan
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions for Asparagus Sauce:
Blanch asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes, then immediately put in an ice bath to cool. Chop blanched asparagus and put in a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil to the blender and turn on high. Slowly pour in the oil while the blender is running. Blend until smooth. Add more water if the sauce seems too thick.
Directions for Asparagus Pizza:
Stretch the pizza dough into a 14” round pie. Top the pie evenly with the asparagus sauce, leaving about a ½” un-sauced crust around the edge. Lay the Galbani Thin Sliced Fresh Mozzarella around the pizza. Top with sliced pancetta, asparagus tips in a small amount of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of Piment D’Ville. Bake at approximately 570° for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the oven and onto a cooling rack to finish.
Place wild arugula in the center of the baked pizzas. Adorn the arugula salad with your shaved asparagus. Drizzle olive oil over entire pizza. Using a micro-plane grater, grate some Galbani Parmesan over the arugula and shaved asparagus. Finish with a pinch of Piment D’Ville.
