This superfood recipe from best-selling UK-based chef, Waitrose Weekend Columnist and Sunday Times bestselling author Elly Curshen pairs a herby Mediterranean salsa verde and roasted Romanesco cauliflower with a creamy homemade cashew cream for a unique pizza, which just happens to be vegan.

The cashew cream is the cornerstone—smooth, velvety and packed with flavour. Elly’s also added a few specialty items.

First, smoked garlic cloves. Smoked garlic is a specialty ingredient that you can find in an organic food or farm shop. Don’t have the time or the tools to smoke your garlic? Roasting it will lend a mellow, sweetness that works well in this recipe.

Next is nutritional yeast, a common ingredient in vegan recipes. Often called “nooch” by those in the know, these yellow flakes are processed under high heat, which means the yeast is no longer living so they won’t rise. It’s salty and cheesy, despite containing no animal products.

Finally, a pinch of smoked sea salt. Smoked sea salt–we often use Maldon–is gently smoked over hardwood and lends a distinctive wood-fired note. But regular sea salt will work just fine.

All of these ingredients working together equals a balance of smoky, nutty and umami flavours working as a background for the Romanesco cauliflower that goes on before the bake. A drizzle of bright Mediterranean salsa verde takes the pizza from all richness to balanced flavour boost.

When it comes to making this herby green sauce, focus on ingredient quality. It’s obvious you’d want fresh herbs, quality sherry vinegar and great olive oil. But, quality is important when it comes to the jarred items as well. Elly chose non-pareil capers (from the French, has no equal) for their size (under 7mm) and texture (delicate).

A post-bake sprinkle of pul biber, aka Aleppo pepper, gives a fiery-sweet finish (a 1:1 ratio of sweet paprika and Cayenne pepper can act as a stand in).

These sauces and ingredients can (and should) be added to your rotation. Salty, smoky, briny, nutty and cheesy, they’ve got a lot to offer. And when combined with cauliflower, homemade dough, and high heat, you’ve got, as Elly says, “a super nutty, super green vegan pizza. Unusual and utterly delicious.”

Bio
Elly Curshen is the founder of Bristol’s Pear Café, a Sunday Times bestselling author of Green and Elly Pear’s Fast Days and Feast Days, food columnist, food panel judge, cookery tutor and “authority on all things delicious”. Find her on Instagram @ellypear.