White Veggie Pizza with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and More

Note: The cook time is so long because it includes the time to roast the garlic. However, this can be done in advance.

Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce:

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Cut a sliver off of the top of the entire garlic head so that you cut through the tips of each garlic clove. Place cut side up on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and wrap the foil around to seal. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. When cooled enough to touch, squeeze the roasted garlic out.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook about 2 minutes not letting it brown. Slowly whisk in the broth and heavy cream. Stir occasionally until very thickened. Add about 1 teaspoon, or more to taste, of the roasted garlic and whisk to break up. Season to taste.

Pizza Dough:

Preheat oven between 450-500°F (250°C), the hotter the better. Place a pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven to preheat – this ensures a crispy crust.

Stir 1¼ cups of the all-purpose flour, the yeast and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the warm water and oil and whisk on high speed for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and whisk on high for 3 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the remaining flour. Switch to the dough hook and knead it on low for 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest 10 minutes.

Place the dough on a floured surface. For this pizza, I chose to divide it into three (3) parts, for crusts in between thin and regular thickness. You could go many other ways with it though. You could divide it in half for two (2) 9” regular crusts, or four (4) pieces for thin crusts. You could even do 2 large sheet pan sized thin crusts, etc. Roll dough out into desired shape. You can also stretch it with your hands. Place it on the hot pan and prick all over with a fork. Prebake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown spots appear on the crust.

(Tip: If you want to make the dough ahead of time, divide the rested dough into portions and place each in its own zip-lock bag. Refrigerate for 1-2 days or freeze for up to a month.)

Assembling Pizzas (based on three 9″ pizzas):

After the pizza doughs have pre-baked, pull them out of the oven to assemble the toppings. Use 1/3 of the toppings for each of the 3 pizzas. Start with the garlic cream sauce, then the grated cheese. Next arrange the asparagus, followed by the tomatoes, red onions and roasted red bell pepper. Finally place some slices of goat’s cheese on top and sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes. Place back in the oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly and starting to become golden brown, and the tomatoes are wrinkly and soft.