Breakfast Pizza #2

Photographer: Kate
Serves 6

I just got back from 3 weeks working out of our Italian office, tucked away among the medieval towns in Italy’s northeast, just over an hour inland from Venice. (Sometimes life is hard, ya know?)

The quick email summaries I sent back home to New Zealand mostly detailed experiences related to navigating Italian roads (and drivers), eating, coffee, shoes, my lack of even pidgin Italian, sparkling water (why can’t we get it everywhere here too?!), gelato, and yes and I think there was some design work in there somewhere too!

Back in the office this week, and maybe it’s the jet lag, the 12 hour time difference messing with my head, but I can’t stop thinking about…breakfast pizza!

As we’re just coming in to spring here in the Southern hemisphere, I thought I would make the most of the fresh asparagus so readily available. Sauté and then top the cooked pizza to avoid any potential overcooking.  I am always a fan of a rich tomato sauce base on any pizza, but for something lighter (and faster), substitute with a punnet of cherry tomatoes, crushed with a little salt, pepper and olive oil.

 

INGREDIENTS

Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
400g can crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

Pizza
Dough – I used this BBQ flat bread.
100g mozzarella cheese
100g prosciutto
6 eggs
1 bunch asparagus, woody stems removed
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of ½ lemon
30g parmesan, shaved
Freshly ground pepper

METHOD

Sauce
1. Heat olive oil in a pan over a med-low heat, and gently cook onions and garlic until tender. Take it slow to bring out the sweetness of the onion.
2. Add oregano and balsamic vinegar, cook for a further 2-3 minutes, then add tomatoes and bay leaf. Continue to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Remove Bay leaf, season well and set aside.

Pizza
Preheat oven to 250°C on Bake
1. Preheat pizza stone if using, otherwise oil a pan
2. Stretch out pizza dough and place onto pizza paddle or into well-oiled pan
3. Spread tomato sauce over pizza base, leaving a 2-3cm gap around edges
4. Top with chunks of mozzarella and strips of prosciutto
5. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and crack eggs onto pizza. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes, until eggs are cooked to your liking (I like my yolk runny)
6. While pizza is cooking, chop asparagus into 6-8cm long pieces and sauté in a little olive oil until just coloured. Squeeze over lemon juice and set aside.
7. Remove pizza from oven. Top with asparagus pieces, lemon zest, shaved parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.