asparagus (or not!) grandma pizza + prosciutto salad

pizza party time!

Hi! How was your week? Mine was slam-packed, but with a lot of fun, happy things. I got my paws on the book for the first time!!!! I’m re-watching Bridgerton in anticipation of Season 3 and man, a romantic period piece with Taylor Swift string quartet covers is really a balm to the soul at the end of a busy work + mom day. I also started

Emily Henry

’s newest book, Funny Story, this week, so all around just a great week of media consumption on my end.

A gorgeously springy pizza + salad recipe is on the menu for us this week! I had to use asparagus one last time this spring, but if you’re totally over it, I’ve got great alternatives for you in the notes section, don’t you worry!

I love a simple white pie, and this one is absolute perfection. Grandma pie is a pizza cooked on a baking sheet — allegedly named for the Italian grandmothers who immigrated to the U.S. and didn’t have access to pizza ovens, so they had to cook it in the oven! It’s a crisp, thin-crust pizza that is so so good.

For this grandma pie, asparagus is thinly sliced using a vegetable peeler and tossed with garlic, lemon zest, and just the tiniest amount of nutmeg that will have everyone saying what is that I taste?! Plop it on top of a pizza dough with nutty Gruyère and creamy mascarpone and bake it to crisp perfection.

While it’s baking, make the salad! I had a prosciutto salad like this at a restaurant recently and when it came to the table we all ooohed and aaahed — it’s quite the stunner. It’s one you’ll feel really proud of presenting, and then when everyone starts heaping compliments on you, you’ll almost feel guilty about how easy it was to make.

Almost.

PS: If you prefer a thick crust to a thin crust, use this method!

PPS: This meal comes together quickly, but you’ll need to let the pizza dough sit at room temp for at least 30 minutes — or, ideally, 2 to 3 hours — before you build the pizza. Flagging that so you can plan accordingly!

You know by now that Kosterina is my go-to for all things olive oil, and (mom and Marsha, stop reading now) I just put my order in for a big shipment of Kosterina to land on my mom and MIL’s doorstep in time for Mother’s Day (which, PSA, is 15 days away!!). All their gift sets are ideal for holiday or hostess gifting, but their Mother’s Day bundle is truly perfection.

does it get any cuter??! 🫒🫒 the gift set includes original EVOO, greek herb & garlic olive oil, and their fab fig balsamic vinegar

While we’re talking EVOO, you’ll see in today’s recipe that I’ve called for “high-quality” extra-virgin olive oil. Especially in simple, raw recipes like today’s prosciutto + arugula salad, the quality of the ingredients you use is so important, because the taste of each really shines through. High-quality EVOO like Kosterina’s tastes better, plus it offers more health benefits (specifically, high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to help reduce anxiety) than lower-quality EVOOs do.

If you need to stock up on high-quality EVOO, code CARO15 will get you 15% your first purchase of Kosterina. And FYI, May 5th is the deadline for getting your Mother’s Day orders!

This is the last week to order your WTC May protein box! I worked SO HARD on putting this box together with an incredible local small business that upholds sustainable fishing and farming practices. Buy it so that you can cook along with me using the EXACT proteins that I’m using all May long! All of these proteins are tricky to find locally in most areas of the country, hence the box!

Your $99 box will come with:

• Sustainably-caught California rockfish to make crunchy rockfish with sesame-ginger green beans and a truly next-level gochujang sauce.

• Sustainably-caught California Dover sole to make tomato basil fish en papillote (sounds fancy, but I promise it’s WTC-friendly using my hack!) with one-pot summer corn risotto.

• Pasture-raised Sonoma County ground chicken to make chicken caesar burgers (they’re so insanely good and this recipe is part of a BIG GRILLING MENU that drops mid-May with a special guest!).

• Pasture-raised Sonoma County bone-in pork chops to make black pepper pork chops (based off of the black pepper steaks at Boney’s Market in Coronado, CA). If you think you don’t love pork chops, TRUST ME. You will love these!!

This week’s So Into That was a solo episode in which I responded to questions you all asked on Instagram! I discuss everything from how I stay cool (well, most of the time) during toddler tantrums, my take on mom guilt, whether or not I think we’ll be lifelong Californians, the economics behind this newsletter, and more. I love getting to go into more depth than I can on IG, and learning what you guys are curious about, because I think it’s reflective of what’s going on in your lives too.

In the newsletter, you’ll also find sandals for summer, short shorts for little boys, a girls’ girls playlist, a giveaway (for a subscription to

emily nunn

’s fantastic newsletter The Department of Salad!!), plus tons of comments with products that y’all are currently into.

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asparagus grandma pizza + prosciutto salad

Serves 4

Cook time: 30 minutes active + 30 minutes to 3 hours for letting the pizza dough rise

Tools:

• Half sheet pan

• Plastic wrap

• Vegetable peeler

• Microplane

• Large bowl

• Serving platter

Ingredients:

Asparagus grandma pizza:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 pound pizza dough ball

• 12 to 16 ounces fat asparagus spears

• 1 tablespoon high-quality extra-virgin olive oil

• 4 garlic cloves, grated

• Zest of 1 lemon, preferably organic

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Pinch of nutmeg

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• 8 ounces mascarpone (cream cheese works if you can’t find it!)

• 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated

Prosciutto + arugula salad

• 3 ounces prosciutto

• 5 ounces arugula

• 2 tablespoons high-quality extra-virgin olive oil

• Juice of 1 lemon (the same lemon you zested for the pizza!)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• As much Parm as you want

• 1/4 cup roasted, salted almonds, chopped