- To make pesto: add kale, parsley, garlic, lemon juice/zest, pistachios and salt to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times to break up nuts and blend greens. With speed on low, drizzle in olive oil and process until pesto is mostly smooth. Leave it a bit on the chunkier side if you prefer. It will taste garlic-y, but all bitterness will mellow out when roasted. If prepping in advance, refrigerate or freeze pesto until ready to use.
- If using refrigerated or defrosted pizza dough, be sure to allow time for it to come to room temperature and rise a bit—typically about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450F with pizza stone set on the lowest rack for 30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, add kale, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and pinch of salt. Use your hands to massage and evenly coat leaves until tender.
- Using lightly floured hands, stretch dough onto a parchment-lined pizza peel or upside-down sheet pan until it is roughly a 14” round or square. Spoon pesto onto dough and spread, leaving about a 1” border all around. Dollop with ricotta and top with peas, asparagus rounds and oiled kale. Brush exposed crust with olive oil.
- Swiftly slide pizza off of parchment-lined peel or sheet pan directly onto the hot stone. Bake 12-16 minutes until crust is golden, ricotta is bubbling and kale is wilted and crispy. Carefully use the peel to slide pizza off of the stone and out of the oven. Finish with extra parsley, cilantro, black pepper, raw asparagus ribbons and shaved parmesan. Allow to cool a few minutes before slicing.
Note: If you don’t have a pizza stone, pre-heat a dark baking sheet instead. Cooked pizza will keep well refrigerated a few days or frozen. Re-heat in a very hot oven about 8 minutes to serve.