Springtime Asparagus Pizza for Moving

What's Going on Today: Boxes, packing, general mayhem. Picked up new shower curtain for upstairs bathroom in new place. 

Naptime Goals: Finish packing clothes, confirm movers.

Tonight's Menu: Springtime Asparagus Pizza from Food52. Wine. Lots of wine.

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Kids are more resilient then we give them credit for.

Despite the growing pile of boxes my daughter seems remarkably accepting of our home being packed up bit by bit. She awoke after her nap today to find the contents of my closet in suitcases. This wouldn't normally alarm a child except that mine loves to dive into my shoe rack and clatter around the house in high heels any chance she gets. (I am not-so-secretly proud that she is already this obsessed with shoes.) She peered into the suitcase and pointed at the shoes while I explained that they are making a trip to the new house on a big truck. She asked if she could go on the truck, too, not wanting to miss out on any potentially exciting event. Gotta love her adventurous spirit.

In a few short hours we will be residents of CT and, truth be told, though I am sad to close the NYC chapter of my life, I am excited to return to my country roots. I am, at heart, a country girl and love the slightly slower pace that comes with life outside of the city. The best thing about this move really is that I'll be a mere 30 minutes from the heart of the Big Apple, so I am really not giving up much at all. I also look forward to country cooking. Of course I'll be cooking the same food I do in New York, except my new farmer's market will be thrice as big as anything in the city, plus I'll have a deck for herb pots and tomato plants. I can finally grow my own food, just like my parents did for us growing up! Don't worry, the minute all of this starts you'll be the first to know.

In the mean time, with half the kitchen in boxes and no time to Naptime Chef today, I am making pizza. It just so happened that this recipe was up for grabs on Food52 for recipe testing and I jumped at the chance to try it out. I love pizza of almost any flavor and still have an unpacked jelly roll pan in which to bake it. This is what's known as food serendipity. 

I've made all sorts of pizzas in the oven but this is my new favorite. It was a snap to make at dinnertime since I started with fresh pizza dough from Whole Foods. I even put my daughter in charge of sprinkling on the cheese which she loved. The baking time for the pizza is brief and, I'll admit, I was nervous that the asparagus wouldn't tenderize enough in the oven, but it did. After 10 minutes of roasting it was tender to the bite, but not overly wilted. It's flavor was balanced beautifully by the salty mozzarella and tangy goat cheese and rounded out with a smattering of lemon and anchovies. We couldn't enough of the symphony of flavors that created a near perfect springtime pizza and devoured the whole thing.

I know this pizza will work well with other spring and summer vegetables and I intend to try them in the future. In fact, given my increased storage capacity in the new place, I might be able to invest in a pizza stone or even attempt pizza on the new grill. The sky's the limit! In the mean time, I am looking forward to returning to my regular routine of cooking during naptime next week and can't wait to share it all with you.

Springtime Asparagus Pizza

adapted from Food52 and deensiebat

1 12oz. ball fresh pizza dough (can be store-bought fresh or frozen)

3/4 lb. pencil thin asparagus, halved and tossed with olive oil and pinch of salt

1 c. shredded mozzarella, loosely packed

4 oz. goat cheese

zest of 1 lemon

1/4 t. chili flakes

4 oil-packed anchovies, drained and finely chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 500ºF for 1 hour. If using a pizza stone, pre-heat it in the oven as well. Or, if using a jelly roll pan, rub it with a thin sheen of olive oil and sprinkle it evenly with a tiny bit of cornstarch.

2. Place pizza dough on a lightly floured surface and press outward until it is about 14" in diameter. If using a 10x15 jelly roll pan, press the dough until it fits the pan completely.

3. Distribute mozzarella over the top of the pizza, leaving 1" on all sides for the crust. Then, add the asparagus in any desired pattern and clumps of goat cheese.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until crust browns and the cheese melts. Then, remove the pizza from the oven and scatter the lemon zest, chili flakes and chopped anchovies evenly on top. Slice and serve.

Naptime Notes:

Naptime Recipe Variations and Ideas: If you are not in the mood for asparagus other vegetables like peppers, artichoke hearts or eggplants would work well with this pizza. If you don't have goat cheese on hand, ricotta would be a nice substitute. Make this thin and serve it in small triangles for a nice appetizer!

Naptime Stopwatch: Preparing the pizza takes 10 minutes and baking it takes another 10. A great meal to make days before a big move!

Naptime Reviews: My daughter is not the biggest fan of asparagus, but I am working on it. I think this pizza might help her come around.

Artichoke Rosemary Pizza

My Day So Far: Post office to buy stamps and mail holiday packages, daughter's library class, pizza parlor to pick up fresh dough for tonight. 

Naptime Goals: Catch up on blog posts, stamp Christmas cards, weed through mounting stack of store catalogs, laundry = no time for Naptime Chef-ing today! 

Tonight's Meal: Artichoke Rosemary Pizza - simple, delicious and requires no preparation. 

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Toddler's will eat almost anything when you call it "pizza."

I don't read many parenting magazines, I read food magazines. It's not that I don't like monthly volumes dedicated to parenting, it's just that I find food writing infinitely more interesting and inspirational. This month, while reading Food and Wine, I was particularly taken with Eugenia Bone's December Food Diary where she chronicles what she cooks and why, for the month of December. In a household with two kids, Eugenia's cooking outlook reads very similar to mine. She bakes on Sundays as a way to relax, makes large meals on Mondays that will last for a couple of days, and loves to entertain her friends. One of the dishes she writes about making is artichoke and fontina pizza. Given my love of all things artichoke, I knew this would be a great recipe for us. 

With all the craziness of the holidays it is harder to cook every single day. Earlier this week I made stew and it lasted us for a few nights, freeing up time for me during the day to get items checked off my holiday list. Tonight, since I am working all afternoon, I am taking one of my favorite shortcuts and using fresh pizza dough I picked up at the parlor (for $4!) to make homemade pizza for dinner. Sure, there are many times when I love to make my own pizza dough. But, in this case, buying a fresh pre-made ball from the experts down the street is the best way to go.  

Eugenia's pizza recipe calls for marinating artichoke hearts for three days. It is simple to do - and I plan to in the future - but since I wanted instant gratification after reading the article the day before the first time I made this, I cut out that step. Instead, I used olive oil flavored with herbs on the pizza dough, then added fresh chopped rosemary and a few dollops of fresh ricotta. These additions more than compensated for the un-marinated artichokes, rounding out the pizza with a fresh herbaceous flavor.

Preparing this pizza in the evening is very simple and doable for even the busiest home cook. The longest part for me is grating the fontina, which takes all of 2 minutes. Then I just layer on the ingredients, pop it in the oven and go about rounding up the troops for dinner. My daughter didn't love the artichokes because that flavor is still a little foreign to her. However, once we plucked them off she loved the rest of the pizza with the cheese and herbs. For a quick, tasty supper I was very pleased with it's warm reception. In addition, the clean-up was minimal. Leaving me plenty of free time after my daughter went to bed to continue with Santa duties. 

Artichoke Rosemary Pizza

adapted from Food and Wine, December 2009

1 8oz. ball store-bought pizza dough

1 9oz. package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped into bite size pieces

1 1/2c. freshly grated fontina

3/4 c. fresh ricotta

1 t. fresh rosemary, chopped

2 T. olive oil, or a flavored olive oil of your choice

cornmeal for baking 

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Prepare a pizza stone with cornmeal, or rub a 9x13 jelly roll pan with plain olive oil.

2. Roll out the pizza dough to 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface. Drizzle plain or flavored olive oil on top of dough. Place on pizza stone or on pan. Bake for... or until bubbles start to form on the surface of the dough. About 8 minutes.

3. Remove dough from the oven and scatter fontina on top. Then layer on chopped artichoke hearts, chopped rosemary, and dollop the ricotto on randomly by the Tablespoon-full. 

4. Return to oven and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted, crust is golden around the edges and pizza is piping hot. Cut and serve. 

Naptime Notes:

Naptime Recipe Variation Ideas: The possibilities for homemade pizza are endless. There is nothing wrong with buying fresh pizza dough, this will free up your time and leave your schedule to spend more time thinking about toppings! When coming up new ideas I suggest trying different cheeses, sauces, vegetables, thinly sliced meats and even fruit.

Naptime Stopwatch: Making this pizza takes very little time. I had it on the table in 30 minutes from the start it's preparation. 

Naptime Reviews: My daughter ate what essentially amounted to a white pizza, but the adults loved the artichokes!

Napping on Pizza Night

Pizza night is an institution in most households and ours is no different. It is well known that serving pizza for dinner is often the path of least resistance amongst children, and every parent appreciates at least one mealtime per week that is completely free of protest. Pizza night has changed drastically from the days of my childhood when my father would pick up a fresh, greasy pie from the pizzeria down the street. Today, most parents wisely choose to forgo caloric laden pizzas from local and national chains in favor of fresh, healthier pies made in their own homes. Recipes for homemade pizza are widely available, and, with the development of the oven-friendly pizza stone, the coveted pizzeria slice can be replicated in anyone's kitchen. In fact, it is now a widely practiced family activity to make homemade pizzas together with your children, a form of quality time that I fully endorse.

When my toddler makes pizza with me I let her place the mozzarella on top of the sauce. She usually plops down a few slices and then looses interest, preferring to lick the sauce off the crust with her finger. No matter though, when she is older I am sure she will join me for longer periods of time until she can do the whole thing herself. To kick off our family pizza nights these days I start with our favorite whole-wheat rosemary pizza dough. This recipe was given to me by my friend Kristina, mother of adorable Sophia, who is a very accomplished cook.

I loved this dough from the first time I made it because it bakes into a beautiful crispy crust, and the whole-wheat flour with dried rosemary makes it simultaneously fragrant, healthful and flavorful. The dough is a cinch to prepare, even the most novice dough-maker will not have any trouble. I find it easy to make right before I want to cook the pizza, since it only needs to rest for a scant 10 minutes. However, if you want to prepare it during naptime, just leave the final dough resting, covered, in a bowl on the counter top for the afternoon. When you are ready to roll it out for dinner punch it down and give it a few more kneads, then bring out the rolling pin. Once it is stretched nice and thin, layer it with your favorite toppings and pop it in the oven.


When it comes to topping our pizzas there is practically no limit to what we will try. I love to use all sorts of different vegetables, cheese and meats, and recommend that you explore your favorites with your family. In fact, if you have a favorite topping combination please let me know, I am always looking for new ideas. My husband threw out our pizza stone during a move last year because he thought it looked dirty (it was, in fact, seasoned), so I have had to resort to baking our pizzas in my jelly roll pan. I find that the pan works almost as well as the stone, though I do intend to replace the stone at some point this summer. If you are lucky enough to have an outdoor pizza oven or a grill, (unlike us city dwellers), by all means bake your pizza with those devices, the crust will probably get even crispier then it does in the oven. In any event, no matter when your family pizza night falls, I wish you crispy crust, melted cheese and lots of family fun.

Naptime Whole-Wheat Rosemary Pizza Dough - inspired by my friend Kristina
1 packet yeast (.25 oz) - make sure it is not expired!
1/4 t. sugar
3/4 c. warm water, (no hotter than 110degrees, so as not to kill the yeast)
1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. coarse salt
2 t. dry rosemary leaves
4 oz. Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce (or your preferred pizza sauce of choice)

Topping Ideas: Grated cheese, sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, prosciutto strips, mushrooms, sausage slices, fresh basil, roasted eggplant, pepperoni, caramelized onions, grilled peppers, bbq chicken, arugula - and just about anything else you can think of!
What are your favorite toppings?

1. Preheat oven to 450. Empty yeast packet into a small glass bowl. Add sugar and warm water and let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the yeast should be activated, and the water will be absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, add the flours, salt and rosemary and combine.
3. Once the yeast mixture has absorbed the water, combine the flour mixture with the yeast.
4. Knead the dough with your hands and a dough scraper on a well-floured surface for about five minutes, making sure everything is full incorporated. As you knead it, keep sprinkling flour on the surface to make sure it doesn't get too sticky.
5. Coat the rolling pin lightly with flour and roll the dough out until it is round to fit on the pizza stone, or rectangular to fit on the pan.
6. If you are using a pizza stone sprinkle it with some cornstarch to prevent the dough from sticking. Or, if you are using a 12x18 jelly roll pan, sprinkle a few drops of olive oil on the pan, brush it around, then dust it with flour.
7. Transfer the dough to the stone or pan, taking care not to tear it.
8. Spread the dough with sauce and toppings.
9. Bake for 15 minutes or more, until the crust turns golden brown and crispy.

Naptime Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: Pizza is infinitely flexible when it comes to flavors. It is also easy to keep healthful, just be careful with the cheese and add lots of vegetables, the kids will love it.
Naptime Stopwatch: I can usually have this meal on the table, from start to finish, in about 45 minutes. It takes longer if people are helping me top the pizza, so allow time for that if the kids are working with you.
Naptime Reviews: Everyone in my family loves pizza night, I have even made this when the grandparents are visiting. There is no limit to the possibilities, and never anyone who will turn it down!