Asparagus with Ham & Pine Nuts…served two ways

Spring means asparagus.  Every year, I start enjoying it when the California crop begins to hit the stores in March.  It is always good, but when the local crop starts to come in I am always reminded of why I like to eat not just seasonally, but locally whenever I can.  The flavor and texture of the local crop can’t be matched.  I bring home bunches and bunches of it from the farmers’ market…stopping only when the crop does…usually sometime in early June.

One of my favorite things to eat with asparagus is ham.  Its salty, fatty—sometimes smoky—taste compliments the herbaceous and mineral-y asparagus perfectly.  We enjoy it on pizza, in pasta, with eggs (in a frittata/tortilla or quiche)…and in salads and sides.  It is a wonderfully versatile combo. 

Historically, this duo is a natural, seasonal pairing as well.  Hogs would have been butchered in the fall…and hams hung to cure.  They would have been ready to eat in the spring.  I can only imagine how delicious those first slices of the new ham would have tasted when eaten with the first few asparagus spears of the season. 

The simple, streamlined dish I’m sharing today is a great way to enjoy this springtime combination.   You can enjoy it as a side dish…or add a little arugula (also in season right now) and you have a salad.  If you don’t want to take the time to make the lemon-shallot vinaigrette, you can simply dress everything with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.  Either way, this is springtime eating at its best.

  

Asparagus with Ham & Pine Nuts

1 to 1 1/2 lb. medium to large spears of asparagus, trimmed

1 T. olive oil

1/3 lb./150 g. diced (1/3-inch) ham

1/3 c. pine nuts, lightly toasted

2 T. minced Italian flat-leaf parsley

2 to 3 T. lemon-shallot vinaigrette

2 to 3 oz. arugula, trimmed, washed and spun dry (optional)

Salt & Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Leave the asparagus spears whole or cut into 2-inch lengths on a short diagonal—as you prefer.  Bring a pan of well-salted water to the boil.  Drop in the asparagus and cook until just tender—about 3 to 5 minutes.  Drain and spread on towels.  (If you are cooking the asparagus ahead, rinse under cool running water before spreading on towels to dry.)  Reserve the pan.

Warm the olive oil in a small sauté pan set over moderate to moderately high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the ham.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the ham is sizzling, hot through, and golden brown in spots—about 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the pine nuts and parsley. 

If the asparagus spears were left whole, return them to the pan they were cooked in and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette, gently rolling the spears around to coat them.  If you would like the asparagus to be warm, do this while the pan is over a medium flame.  Season with salt & pepper.  Place the spears of asparagus on a platter or individual plates.  Spoon the ham and pine nut mixture over the asparagus.  If you like, you may arrange the asparagus and ham on a bed of arugula that has been seasoned with salt & pepper and dressed with the lemon-shallot vinaigrette.

If the asparagus spears were cut into short lengths, place the asparagus in a bowl with the arugula and the ham and pine nut mixture (let the mixture cool slightly or it will wilt the arugula).  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the vinaigrette.  Toss until all the components are coated with a light film of the vinaigrette and the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Pile on a platter or individual plates and serve. 

Serves 4 to 6.

Lemon-Shallot Vinaigrette: Place a tablespoon of finely diced shallot in a small bowl with 3 T. lemon juice and 1/2 t. salt.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Whisk in 5 T. olive oil.  Taste for balance and seasoning.  (Vinaigrette from Sunday Suppers at Lucques—Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table, by Suzanne Goin)

Notes:

• If the asparagus is very fat, take the time to peel the lower 2/3 of each stalk. 
• Any ham of good quality may be used. I like Niman Ranch’s Apple wood Smoked Ham. Black forest ham would be good too. This recipe also makes an excellent use for the “heel” of a prosciutto. 
• You may make the vinaigrette, or simply dress everything with a squeeze of lemon and drizzle of olive oil. 

 Printable Version

Variation using julienne Prosciutto and shaved Parmesan

White Bean Soup with Butternut Squash, Farro & Ham

After an unusually warm and dry winter, I was expecting more of the same for spring.  But so far, spring has been cool and wet.  And I love it.  I love the way the spring greens pop in the soft gray light...

...and I love the rain.  As always, I am looking forward to the new, fresh foods of spring.  But these cool days have put me in the mood for more substantial—and a bit unseasonal—fare. 

On one of our recent rainy days I was flipping through a favorite cookbook (One Good Dish by David Tanis)  looking for the details of a particular recipe when the book fell open to a picture of his "winter minestrone" (white bean soup with winter squash).  I have never made the soup that is pictured—rather that recipe was a springboard for a soup that has since become a favorite.  Either version would have been perfect for the chilly, drizzly day.

In addition to the white beans, the original soup included pasta, pancetta and what I thought was a rather skimpy amount of winter squash.  The first time I made the soup, I doubled the quantity of squash.  I also happened to have some chunks of the end of a Serrano ham in my freezer, so I replaced the pancetta with that.  Even though pancetta might be more common in minestrone, I love ham in a bean soup...and it was a delicious substitution.  I have since made it with ordinary American-style ham—which might not be as good as a fine air cured ham (like Serrano or Prosciutto), but was still delicious.  Finally, I got rid of the pasta altogether and added farro to the soup.  I discovered a few years ago how delicious farro can be in soup.  Moreover, it gives the soup a nice keeping quality that it doesn't have when made with pasta.  Pasta, if added to the entire batch, will become bloated and soggy as it sits (it needs to be cooked and stored separately and added to the leftovers as needed to avoid this).  Farro maintains its texture...even when the soup is kept for several days.

One of the things I like the most about this soup is the way the squash is roasted before adding it to the soup.  When diced squash is cooked in the soup, it can break up into the broth.  This is usually a desired quality, since it adds body and color to the soup.  But when roasted and added at the end it maintains a discrete presence.  The effect—both from a visual and a taste perspective—is very nice.   

For some reason I never got around to making this soup this past winter.   And since days when I'll be hungry for such a soup are dwindling, I decided to make it now.  If you happen to have a cool spring day in your future, you should make it.  I think you will find the combination of flavors and textures to be wonderfully satisfying.  And if you don’t make it now, be sure to save the recipe someplace where it will cross your line of vision next fall when winter squash begins to fill the markets once again.

White Bean Soup with Butternut Squash, Farro & Ham

3 T. olive oil, divided

3 to 3 1/2 oz. ham, cut in a 1/3-inch dice
1 medium onion (about 8 to 9 oz.), cut into small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. fennel seed, crushed
1/8 t. red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 lb. Great Northern beans, soaked overnight in cold water, drained and rinsed
Water
1 lb. Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/2 c. pearled or semi-pearled farro

1 t. minced fresh rosemary

Olive oil for drizzling

In a soup pot, heat a tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the ham and cook, stirring occasionally until browned in spots—about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil, then add the onion, garlic, fennel seeds, and pepper flakes along with a pinch of salt.  Stir to coat in the fat.   Reduce the heat and gently sweat the onions until soft and tender—adding more oil if the pan seems dry—about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Add the beans and enough water to cover the beans by about an inch or so and bring to a simmer.  Maintain a simmer, stirring occasionally and adding hot water as necessary to keep the beans covered by an inch of liquid.  When the beans are about half cooked, season to taste with salt.  Continue to cook until the beans are very tender—about 45 minutes to an hour total cooking time. 

While the beans cook, prepare the squash and farro:

In a large bowl, toss the cubed squash with a tablespoon or so of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet large enough to hold the squash in a snug single layer. Transfer to a 400° oven and roast, turning the squash once, until tender and caramelized in spots—about 30 minutes.  Set aside.

Cook the farro in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender—about 25 minutes.  Drain and spread on a baking sheet until needed.

When the beans are tender, add the squash, farro and rosemary, along with enough boiling water so that the soup elements are submerged and moving freely.  Continue to simmer for 5 minutes or so to allow the flavors to blend.  Taste and correct the seasoning.  Ladle in to warm soup bowls and served drizzled with olive oil. 

Makes 2 to 2 1/2 quarts.  Recipe is easily doubled.

Note:  The soup will thicken as it sits.  Be ready to add more water when reheating on subsequent days. 

(Recipe adapted from Winter Minestrone in One Good Dish by David Tanis)

Printable Version

French Potato Tart…with Ham & Cheese

Shortly after I posted my winter vegetable crostata I ran across a link on my Facebook feed to a list of savory tarts that had been published in the New York Times.  The picture attached to the link was of a double crusted potato tart by David Tanis.  His tart is almost identical to one in Susan Loomis’s French Farmhouse Cookbook.  I had forgotten about this unusual tart…I haven’t made it in years…but after seeing it, it seemed to take up residence in the front of my brain.  Later, as I considered the remains of my Easter ham, it seemed obvious to me that this tart would be a great place to tuck a few slices of that leftover ham…along with a bit of  Gruyère cheese….

The main difference between Tanis’s version of this tart and Loomis’s is the type of potato and the amount of heavy cream   Loomis specifies waxy potatoes, while Tanis uses Yukons—which to me are starchy.  His version also uses four times as much heavy cream.  I suspect you can use as much—or as little—heavy cream as you like, but that you will get better results with less cream if you choose a waxy potato …and more cream if you use a starchy potato.  When I made mine, I had Russet potatoes on hand (which are starchy) and used twice as much cream as Loomis (and half as much as Tanis).  I was perfectly satisfied with the way mine turned out.  I mention all of this mostly to illustrate the flexibility of this tart. 

Because the tart is essentially nothing more than potatoes and pastry crust, it is important to season it well.  It should contain a generous quantity of garlic—2 nice fat cloves for 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of potatoes…and 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme.  Without enough salt, your tart will be bland, so when you toss the potatoes with the garlic, thyme and cream, taste carefully for salt—remembering that if you are adding ham and cheese (as I did) that you will need a little less. 

This tart makes a fine dinner…or lunch…accompanied by a salad or side vegetable of some kind.  We enjoyed ours with a shredded Brussels Sprouts salad (Buvette‘s is particularly good…I like to add a squeeze of lemon to this one), but it would also be very nice with a kale or a spinach salad…or a small fluff of baby lettuces.  Blanched green beans or asparagus—tossed with some herbs or a few toasted nuts—would be delicious on the side…as would a big pile of honey glazed carrots.

I admit that advocating the serving of a cream-laced pastry and potato concoction as the main event of your meal may seem a bit audacious in our current culture of—take your pick—gluten-, carb- or fat-avoidance….but I choose not to see it that way at all.  Rather, I think of this tart as a special and delicious treat in the midst of a sensible—“all things in moderation”—approach to eating.  Enjoy!

French Potato Tart with Ham & Cheese

1 recipe pâte brisée (see below), rolled for a double crust tart, bottom shell partially baked

1 1/2 lbs. potatoes

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 T. picked fresh thyme, chopped

Salt & freshly ground pepper

1/2 c. heavy cream (or crème fraiche)—You may use as little as 1/4 cup for waxier potatoes and as much as a cup for more starchy potatoes.  A half cup is a happy medium, working well for either kind.

5 to 6 oz. ham, trimmed of excess fat and cut into a small dice

4 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated

1 T. unsalted butter, cut into four pieces (optional)

1 egg yolk

1 T. heavy cream

Peel the potatoes.  Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add the garlic and thyme.  Season well with salt and pepper and pour in the cream.  Use your hands to mix, making sure all the potato slices are coated and that the seasoning is evenly distributed. Taste the potatoes and cream and correct the seasoning. 

Place the partially baked tart shell on a baking sheet.  Arrange the potatoes in two or three even layers, scattering the ham and cheese in between each successive layer.  Pour any cream remaining in the bowl over the potatoes in the crust, scraping well with a rubber spatula. 

Whisk the yolk and 1 tablespoon of cream together.  Carefully paint the rim of the bottom crust with the egg wash.  Using a 1/2- to 3/4-inch plain or fluted cutter, cut a hole in the center of the top crust.  Place the top crust over the potatoes, being careful not to stretch it, but allowing it to drape naturally over the surface of the potatoes.  Press gently along the edges to seal and to cut the top crust off flush with the edge of the tart pan.   Paint the top crust evenly with the egg wash.

Place the baking sheet with the tart on the middle rack in a preheated 375° oven. Bake the tart until the potatoes are tender and the crust is a beautiful golden brown.  Depending on the potatoes you use, this will take anywhere from 50 to 70 minutes.  Start checking the potatoes after about 40 minutes.  If you like, about 10 minutes before the tart is done baking, insert the four pieces of butter into the center of the tart through the hole cut earlier….the butter will melt and baste the potatoes in the center of the tart as the tart finishes baking.

When the tart is done, remove it from the oven and place on a sturdy bowl so that the rim can be lowered away from the tart.  Slide the tart off of the bottom portion of the tart pan and onto a wire rack.  Allow the tart to cool for five minutes before serving.  (Often the crust will release butter while the tart is baking, by removing the tart from the pan right away you are insuring that the crust will not become greasy or soggy by reabsorbing this butter.)

Transfer the tart to a cutting board or platter and serve warm or at room temperature.  Tart serves 6 to 8. 

(Recipe adapted from David Tanis’s column in the New York Times and from French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis)

Printable Version

Pâte Brisée

 (Savory Tart Dough)

2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour (265g)

5/8 t. salt

14 T. cold unsalted butter, sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces (200g)

5 to 7 T. ice water (up to 100g)

Combine the flour and the salt in a medium-sized bowl.  Rub the butter into the flour until the butter is in small pea-sized pieces. Drizzle 5 T. ice water over the flour/butter mixture.  Using your hands, fluff the mixture until it begins to clump, adding more water if necessary.  If, when you squeeze some of the mixture it holds together, the dough is finished.  Turn the dough out onto a counter and form into a mound.  Using the heel of your hand, gradually push all of the dough away from you in short forward strokes, flattening out the lumps.  Continue until all of the dough is flat.  Using a bench scraper, scrape the dough off the counter, forming it into a single clump as you do.  Divide the dough into two pieces—one (for the bottom crust) should be slightly larger than the other.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, pressing into a thick disk.  Chill for at least 30 minutes.

To roll out, let the discs of dough warm up for a moment or two.  Butter a 10-inch removable-bottom tart pan and set it aside.  Flour the work surface and the rolling pin.  Begin rolling from the center of the dough outward.  After each stroke, rotate the dough a quarter turn—always making sure that there is sufficient flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Keep rolling and turning until you have a round of dough that is about 1/8 to 1/6 –inch in thickness and is about 11 1/2- to 12-inches in diameter.  Brush off the excess flour and fold the dough circle in half.  Slide the outspread fingers of both hands under the dough and gently lift it and transfer it to the prepared tart pan.  Unfold the dough and ease it into the pan being careful not to stretch it.  Cut the dough off flush with the edge of the pan by pressing gently against the edge.  Chill the shell for at least 1/2 hour.

In a similar manner, roll out the second disc into a round that is at least 10 1/2-inches in diameter.  Transfer to a baking sheet and chill. 

To partially bake the bottom crust, line the chilled pastry with aluminum foil (dull side up), gently pressing it into the corners and edges.  Add a layer of pie weights or dried beans.  Bake in a 425° oven for 15 minutes, or until the pastry begins to color on the edges, remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the pastry dries out and turns a light golden color—another 2 or 3 minutes.  Let cool before filling.

Notes:  If you have never made a basic pâte brisée, you might want to check out this detailed post on how to make short crust pastry.   Similarly, you will find a few pointers on partially baking a pie shell in my post about quiche basics.

"Leftover" Ham...in a Potato Gratin...and on a Potato & Mushroom Pizza...

In my last post I wrote about how I used up the remainder of a head of cabbage that was originally purchased to make soup.  The cabbage was only part of the story—making the soup also left me with the remains of a package of ham.  Even though the batch of soup was large, my situation is illustrative of the purchasing conundrum of small households everywhere: how to efficiently use up odds and ends of ingredients left from preparing scaled down recipes.  The progression of meals that I prepare in the process of using up these odds and ends—purchasing just one more thing to use up the end of the last thing—sometimes feels like the tale of the old lady who swallowed the fly (with the exception of the ending...of course).  Because even large households experience this kind of thing every now and then, I thought I would share this recent progression.  And since Easter is coming up, lots of households—of all sizes—will have leftover ham in their pantry that they will want to use for something besides ham sandwiches (tasty as those might be...). 

Soup is a great place to start when you are using up leftover ingredients.  If you have a ham bone from your Easter ham, there is nothing better than a simple ham and white bean soup.  But if all you have are slices (or a chunk), then the cabbage soup I made recently would be delicious.  (And you'll have cabbage left to make Gemelli with Italian Sausage...)  The cabbage soup is also good for using up the end of your winter stash of dried beans...and possibly an extra potato or two you might have on your counter.  Although, to me, potatoes are more of a staple and I always have them on hand.  In fact, they figure prominently into the two recipes I want to share today. 

Shortly after I made my cabbage soup, I received a request from a client for an Easter brunch menu.  As I considered the menu, one of the things that came to mind was some kind of potato gratin.  Potato gratins make wonderful holiday side dishes.  Whether made of just potatoes, cream and cheese, or potatoes with other vegetables and adornments, everyone loves them.  They are always a good idea.  

I must have been thinking about this menu...and gratins....around the same time I began to think about my dinner one afternoon because it occurred to me that a gratin with some ham...and maybe some sautéed onions...would make a very nice dinner that night. 

Ham and potatoes "au gratin" is a fairly common American dish.  It is typically made with layers of ham, potatoes and cheddar cheese—all bound with a thick cream sauce.  The sauce is almost always a flour-bound white sauce—either a béchamel (all milk) or a velouté (chicken stock and a little milk)—and is occasionally enriched with a little cream. 

There is nothing wrong with this style of dish, but when I made my gratin, I went back to the potato gratin's French roots.  Instead of cheddar cheese, I used Gruyère (the traditional cheese for a French potato gratin).  And instead of a velouté or a béchamel, I simply poured a mixture of heavy cream and stock over the layered components before baking.  You don't really need the flour.  The starch inherent in the potatoes will thicken the liquid a bit.  Further thickening occurs as the cream reduces during the long baking process. If you aren't familiar with potato gratins as the French make them, I describe the process in a bit more detail in a post I wrote several years ago about a Sweet Potato, Yukon & Turnip Gratin.

Because I wanted to serve my gratin as the entrée for our dinner, I made a trip to the store to pick up some asparagus and salad greens.  I thought the asparagus would be particularly nice with the components of the gratin...and it was.  

You may do as I did and make this gratin with leftover ham for a post holiday dinner, but if you happen to be serving something besides ham as your Easter entrée, this gratin would make a fabulous side dish.  Add some bread, an asparagus side dish, a big green salad and a beautiful dessert and your meal is complete.

After I made the gratin, some ham still remained. Now I had leftover asparagus too.  So... I decided to make a favorite asparagus and mushroom pasta that happens to include a little ham.  (Salty ham really is a perfect complement to asparagus.)  Until recently I had always made this pasta with prosciutto.  Then, in an effort to use up last year's Easter ham, I discovered that it is just as delicious with American-style ham.  This is one of my favorite spring pastas—with American-style ham or any delicious air-cured, European-style ham. 

The astute reader has probably already guessed that after this meal I now had a handful of mushrooms left over (I grabbed a box at the store out of habit, rather than purchasing them loose....).  And of course there was still a very small amount of ham left.... 

As I mentioned at the start, potatoes—like pasta and grains—are a staple at my house...and, it just so happens that they are delicious with both mushrooms and ham.  As I eyed the tiny amount of ham and the few mushrooms, I remembered that I had potatoes.  I also remembered that I still had a small amount of Gruyère left from the gratin.  Pizza seemed the obvious thing to make.  

I supplemented the Gruyère with some Goat Gouda I had purchased for snacking purposes (I always have snacking cheese in my fridge), but you could use any mix of delicious cheeses that you like (see my post on pizza from the remains of the cheese tray).  Not only did this pizza use up the last of the ham...and the mushrooms...and even the Gruyère, it was exceptionally good.  As with the ham and potato gratin, it is a keeper.  I will definitely be making it again.  

Now I am out of ham. Of course I couldn't resist the big beautiful bunch of asparagus I saw during my last trip to the grocery store.  So, it begins again.  I love to cook.  What else is so endlessly creative?...so deeply satisfying?  Asparagus is delicious with ham....   Perhaps I should purchase some more....

Ham & Potato Gratin

3 T. unsalted butter

1 large onion (10 to 12 oz.), peeled and very thinly sliced

8 oz. Ham, sliced 1/4-inch thick and cut into 1/2-inch squares

5 to 6 oz. coarsely grated Gruyère

1 c. Heavy cream

3/4  to 1 c. chicken stock

2 to 2 1/4 lb. russet potatoes

salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan set over moderate heat.  Add the onion along with a pinch of salt and toss to coat in the hot fat.  When the onion begins to sizzle, cover and cook on low until the onions are soft & tender—about 20 minutes.  Uncover and increase the heat a bit.  Cook until any liquid in the pan has evaporated and the onions are sizzling in the butter.  It's OK if they caramelize in a few spots.  Set aside.

Generously butter a 2 1/2 quart shallow gratin.  Warm the cream and 3/4 cup of stock until hot.  Season with salt and pepper.  Peel the potatoes and slice thinly (about 1/16th inch thick). 

Build the gratin:  Ladle in a quarter cup or so of the hot stock/cream mixture.  Shingle in 1/3 of the potatoes.  Season lightly with salt & pepper.  Scatter in half of the onions, half of the ham and 1 1/2 oz. of the cheese. 

Add a ladle full of cream/stock.  Repeat these layers once.  Finish with a layer of potatoes and pour the rest of the liquid over.  Season lightly with salt & pepper.  To find out if you need to add more liquid to the gratin, press down firmly on the potatoes with a wide spatula or your hands.  When you do this, the potatoes should only be partially submerged in the liquid.  If you can't see any liquid around the edges when you do this, add more of the liquid. 

Place the gratin on a baking sheet and cover tightly with foil.  Transfer to a 350° oven and bake until the cream is bubbling around the edges—about 45 minutes.  Uncover.  Scatter the remaining cheese over the top and return to the oven.  Continue to bake until the cream is bubbling thickly (the gratin should not be soupy), the top is golden brown and the potatoes are completely tender—another 35 to 45 minutes.  If time allows, let the gratin rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.  Serves 8 as a side, 4 to 6 as an entrée.

Printable Recipe  

  

Potato, Mushroom & Ham Pizza

6 to 7 oz. New, small Yukon or baby Dutch potatoes, well-scrubbed

Olive oil

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 oz. ham, sliced 1/4-inch thick and cut into 1-inch batonettes

a generous tablespoon of minced Italian flat-leaf parsley

pinch of red pepper flakes

5 oz. coarsely grated cheese (I used a mix of 3 oz. Gruyère and 2 oz. Goat Gouda)

Pizza dough for one pizza (see below)

Place the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with salted water.  Bring to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.  Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

While the potatoes cook, heat a medium sauté pan over moderately high heat.  Add oil to coat the pan (about a tablespoon).  When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Sauté, regulating the heat to maintain an active sizzle, until the mushrooms are browned and tender—about 5 minutes.  If the mushrooms seem dry, add a bit more oil.  Season with salt & pepper, reduce the heat slightly and add the ham. Cook until the ham is sizzling and any water it has released has evaporated—it will begin to turn golden in spots.  Add the garlic, parsley and pepper flakes and cook briefly—just until fragrant.  Remove from the heat. 

Peel the potatoes and slice 1/4-inch thick.  Place in a small bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil.  Taste and salt if necessary. 

Build the pizza:  Roll or stretch the pizza dough out into a 12- to 14-inch round and transfer to a floured baking sheet, pizza pan or peel.  Brush the dough round with 2 to 3 t. olive oil.  Scatter half of the cheese over the dough.  Scatter the potatoes over the cheese, followed by the mushroom mixture and then the remaining cheese.  

Bake the pizza: If using a pizza pan or baking sheet, place the pizza in the pan on a pre-heated pizza stone in a pre-heated 500° oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown on the bottom and the cheese is tinged with golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. To insure a crisp crust, slide the pizza off of the pan and onto the pizza stone as soon as the crust is set (after 4 or 5 minutes).

If using a peel, slide the pizza directly onto the preheated baking stone. Bake until the crust is golden brown on the bottom and the cheese is tinged a golden brown color—about 8 to 12 minutes.

When the pizza is done, transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges and serve.

 Pizza Dough

1/2 cup warm water (100º-110º F)
1 1/8 t. active dry yeast
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt

Place the water in a large bowl and add the yeast. Let soften for a minute or two. Add 3/4 cup of the flour and whisk until smooth. Add the oil, salt and another half cup of the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough that holds its shape, adding more flour if necessary. Sprinkle some of the remaining quarter cup of flour on a smooth surface. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and sprinkle with a bit more of the flour. Knead the dough, adding just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, until the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed lightly with a finger—about 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size—about 1 hour. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Cover with a towel and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. The dough is now ready to be shaped, topped and cooked or frozen.

Food Processor Method: Place the water and yeast in a small bowl and let sit until the yeast has dissolved. Place 1 1/3 cups of the flour and salt in the food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to blend. Add the oil and yeast/water mixture and pulse until the dough is homogenous. Begin to run the mixture in long pulses (five to 10 seconds each) until the dough is smooth and elastic—it shouldn't take more than a minute. If the dough seems wet and sticky, add some of the remaining flour a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and give it a few kneads by hand.

Variation for a Whole Wheat Crust: Instead of unbleached all-purpose flour, use 3/4 c. bread flour and 1/2 to 3/4 c. whole wheat flour (the new “white” whole wheat flour is a good choice).

(Crust recipe adapted from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins.)

Printable Recipe

Pasta with Mushrooms, Asparagus & the last of the Easter Ham

We are finally to the end of our Easter ham. It has made its way into soup, sandwiches (last night an open faced, warm sandwich with asparagus and a "sunny side up" egg on top) and—of course—pasta. The recipe for the pasta is originally from a class I taught several years ago for Williams-Sonoma. However, I have made it so often and over so many years that at this point it bears little resemblance to the original. I always vary it a bit—depending on what I have on hand—morels instead of "ordinary" mushrooms, spring onions instead of shallots, etc. I posted a meatless version a few years ago. This time, I varied the type of ham.

Typically I prepare this pasta with prosciutto....but as I looked at the chunky little end piece of my American-style smoked ham, I thought it would make a fine stand in for the prosciutto. Since a prosciutto is dry-cured and my Easter ham was wet-cured (brined), I decided to use half again as much as I would have of the prosciutto to make up for the water loss and shrinkage that I knew would occur when the wetter ham hit the sauté pan. But you should (as always) use an amount that pleases you...remembering that the ham in this recipe is a supporting player (providing richness and salt) and it shouldn't be allowed to overpower the asparagus and mushrooms.

When you make this pasta, you will find it to be surprisingly hearty and full flavored. I usually think of springtime asparagus pastas as being light and fresh. But the foundation of the caramelized mushrooms and small amount of sautéed ham gives a rich—frankly meaty—character to this dish (far beyond what you would expect for such a small amount of actual meat).

It made for an especially nice end for my Easter ham...and no matter what kind of ham you have, a perfect dish for an early spring evening.

Penne Pasta with Mushrooms, Asparagus & Ham

2 to 4 T. olive oil
8 oz. mixed mushrooms, sliced in uniform pieces
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
3 oz. smoked ham, cut in a 1/8-inch dice (see notes)
1/4 t. pepper flakes
1 to 2 T. minced Italian flat leaf parsley
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal in 2-inch lengths
1 lb. penne pasta
1/2 to 2/3 c. freshly grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or a combination of the two

Ingredients for half a recipe

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Sauté, regulating the heat to maintain an active sizzle, until the mushrooms are browned and tender—about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat, season with salt and pepper, add more oil if necessary, and add the shallots, ham & pepper flakes. Cook until the shallots are soft and caramelized and the ham is beginning to turn golden brown—about 5 minutes. Toss in the parsley and reduce the heat to the lowest setting while you finish cooking the pasta and asparagus.

Meanwhile, bring 6 quarts of water to the boil in a large stock/pasta pot. Add 2 to 3 Tablespoons of salt. Add the pasta and cook for 4 or 5 minutes—or until the pasta is about half cooked. Add the asparagus and continue to cook until the pasta is al dente and the asparagus is tender—about 4 minutes more. (See notes for alternate method.) Drain, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta and asparagus to the mushrooms along with a generous drizzle of olive oil and toss to combine. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the cooking water. Add a few tablespoons of the cheese and toss again. Divide among serving plates, sprinkle with more cheese and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Notes:

• When I don't have leftover ham, I make this pasta with prosciutto—use 2 oz. for the full recipe. It is ideal for the end bit which can be easily diced into little pieces. When you go to the deli/cured meats counter to get your prosciutto, ask if they have any of the end chunk—this portion doesn't make beautiful, thin slices and they will frequently sell it to you at a lower price (just ask).

• If you are worried about getting your pasta and asparagus to the proper done-ness simultaneously, simply cook the asparagus first: Bring the water to a boil. Salt it and add the asparagus. When the asparagus is cooked to your liking, scoop it out and spread on a baking sheet. Drop the pasta and cook until al dente. About a minute before the pasta is done, add the asparagus to the pan with the mushrooms and toss to combine. Add the drained pasta and proceed as directed.

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