This superfood recipe from UK-based chef, Waitrose Weekend columnist and Sunday Times best-selling author Elly Curshen pairs a herby Mediterranean salsa verde and roasted romanesco with a homemade cashew cream for a unique pizza that also happens to be vegan.

The cashew cream is the cornerstone of this pie: smooth, velvety and packed with flavor. Elly has also incorporated a few special toppings to really draw out the contrasting tastes and textures. 

First, smoked garlic cloves. Smoked garlic is a specialty ingredient that you can find in an organic grocery 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, 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 alive and won’t rise. It’s salty and cheesy-tasting, 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 to the dish, but if you can’t find it, regular sea salt will work just fine. 

All of these ingredients together create a balanced background chorus of smoky, nutty and umami flavors for the romanesco that goes on just before the bake. A drizzle of Mediterranean salsa verde at the end serves to brighten and elevate all of that richness.

When it comes to making this herby green sauce, focus on ingredient quality. It’s obvious that you’d want fresh herbs, quality sherry vinegar and great olive oil, but quality is important when it comes to the jarred ingredients, too. Elly chose non-pareil capers (from the French, “has no equal”) for their small size and delicate texture. 

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 that’s unusual and utterly delicious.”