We love our weekend pizzas!

Some of my thoughts on hassle-free Friday night pizzas:

• When making pizza dough, double the recipe and store the remainder in ziplock bags in the freezer for quick pizzas. Come Friday morning, let rise on the counter (within its bag) and come home to a risen dough ready to top and bake.
• Crank the oven – hot! I’m talking 500˚F (260˚C) if your oven can. The shorter the time in the oven the better! Allow the veges to just start to brown and the cheese to melt. Ideally, use a pizza stone that also reaches this temperature before the pizza is transferred to ensure a crisp base.
• Keep a stash of homemade tomato sauce on hand for such occasions. Reduce a large can with chosen herbs/spices and transfer to yogurt containers, muffin pans or ice cube trays to freeze. Let defrost on the counter during the day, ready to be smeared over the base.
• Try new combinations – but keep it simple. Recall a dish you love and recreate the flavours on your pizza. We love mango, chicken and cashew… spinach, pumpkin (squash) and feta…. caribou, red onion jam and mushrooms… peanut sauce, grated carrot, thai chicken and cilantro… kale, mushroom, zucchini and pesto…
• Get creative with the sauce. No need for it to be tomato pizza sauce. Try kale pesto (or basil), goat cheese, satay, or Béchamel
• Forget the cutlery and plates! Enjoy it hot off the pizza stone with a glass of wine and good company.

Shaved asparagus & Mushroom Pizza with Béchamel Sauce
Makes one large pizza to share
Recipe from The Healthy Foodie

1/2 standard recipe for wholewheat pizza dough (enough for one 12 inch pizza)
6 button mushrooms, sliced
12 stalks asparagus, woody ends removed
large handful grated cheese (mozzarella)

For the Béchamel Sauce
1 small clove garlic, crushed
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
½ cup milk
pinch salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 500˚F with pizza stone positioned in center.
In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add green onions, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour and whisk to combine. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly until sauce becomes thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add more milk if required but keep in mind a thin sauce will create a soggy pizza!

Roll dough out as thin as possible and place on pizza stone in hot oven. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes, or until starting to puff and JUST baked. Remove from oven.

Spread over the Bechamel sauce and top with mushrooms, shaved asparagus and cheese. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted, base becomes crisp at the edges and the vegetables become tinged with colour.