The challenge with making delicious vegan pizza is that for many people, a pizza must have cheese and – until recently – many vegan cheeses left much to be desired. Luckily for the vegans out there (like Ooni’s cofounder, Darina!) the flavor, texture and options have vastly improved. A great example? This vegan ricotta, candied chili and roasted squash sauce pizza from chef, founder of @pizzaislovely and Bristol-based Ooni ambassador Julian Guy.

The nutty flavor of roasted squash paired with homemade vegan ricotta that’s incredibly close to the dairy version (and tastes far better than most of the products you can buy) is a match made in heaven. And while it takes a bit of time (2 to 3 days) to prepare the ricotta, the results are worth it and perfectly complimented by a kick of candied chilies. Finished off with a garnish of crispy fried sage, this pizza hits all the right spots whether you’re vegan, trying out Veganuary, or looking for something delectably new.

We’re not yolking when we say this is one killer breakfast pizza. Simply crack your egg halfway through the cook to achieve that next-level ooze. Baked over a creamy cheese and spinach base, its simplicity is deceivingly delicious!

Grab your cast iron pan, and fire up these deliciously garlicky prawns. Toss over a bed of sweet salad, fresh herbs and creamy avocado. Delightfully light and versatile, just like Ooni pizza ovens!

Embrace your inner artist with this picture-perfect pizza. Bright green, homemade basil pesto meets tangy goats cheese and toasted pine nuts for a breadth of fresh flavor. Garnished with a handful of watercress and edible flowers, it’s almost (almost) too pretty to eat!

Monkfish may not be the prettiest sea creature around, but its flavor — often compared to lobster meat — tells a different story. This seabed-trawling anglerfish has a meatier flavor than other white fish, but it manages to be low in fat and full of beneficial minerals, proteins, and vitamins. Much like pan frying on your cooktop, cast iron cooking is a great alternative method for achieving a tender, juicy fillet of monkfish. Cast iron pans are great regulators and hold onto heat for a long time. The key is getting a good preheat (15 minutes in your Ooni pizza oven will suffice) before adding the oil and fish. Once in the pan, the fillets are cooked outside the oven, using residual heat to sear and cook the fillet through. Return the pan to the oven for a final lick of flames, then remove the pan and let the fillets rest before serving.

Ooni ambassador Alberto Zanrosso, half of Spanish catering duo @bearonbike, created this mouthwatering recipe for family and friends as part of a Mediterranean-inspired dinner party. To show off the versatility of his Ooni oven, Alberto cooked a whole range of dishes, from Padrón peppers to cheese fondue to seafood, including prawns and monkfish. After sourcing local, freshly caught fish from Barcelona’s colorful food markets, Alberto created this monkfish dish on his sun-drenched metropolitan rooftop. No matter your setup at home, if you have a mind to throw a dinner party yourself, this simple monkfish dish is one to try: quick, easy to prepare, and full of flavor.

Riffing on the classic Margherita, chef Dan Richer of Razza Pizza Artigianale, and Rome-based food journalist Katie Parla created this “Panna Pizza” for their new book, The Joy of Pizza. Panna means “cream” in Italian and it’s the panna that makes all the difference here. Instead of a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, this pie gets a healthy dose of cream before it goes into the oven, which results in what Dan and Katie call a “a kind of swirly pink, penne alla vodka thing,” which is exactly the type of delicious alchemy we love to stumble across. After cooking, the lush cream gets balanced with the bite of peppery arugula and some salty, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano.

This pie is delicious due to the expertly balanced flavors, but also because it adheres to one of the hallmarks of Richer’s pizza-making philosophy: using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. Contrary to popular opinion, Richer doesn’t believe that imported Italian ingredients are always best for pizza. In fact, part of what makes his panna pizza so good is the incredibly rich cow’s cream he sources from a Pennsylvania dairy not far from his shop in Jersey City.

What will make your panna pie great isn’t necessarily sourcing that exact same cream from Pennsylvania, but rather by doing what Dan advises and using “the best quality cream you can find.” If you subscribe to his pizza philosophy, a search for the best dairy in your area might mean you leave your supermarket aisles altogether. Dan has found this kind of back-to-the-basics search “may lead you to a fabulous local dairy,” and we’re all for that.

Use the recipe below to make this deliciously creamy pizza at home.

Excerpted from THE JOY OF PIZZA by Dan Richer with Katie Parla. Copyright © 2021 by Dan Richer. Photographs by Eric Wolfinger. Illustrations by Katie Shelly. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

For a flame-cooked twist on Entenbrust mit Knödel, a classic German dish of duck breast with dumplings, this recipe from Bavarian grilling enthusiast Dominic Stettner is one to try. Using fresh, high-quality ingredients will make the standout flavors of this dish pop — from fresh asparagus spears to succulent, organic duck breasts. The bacon-wrapped green beans add a salty kick to the tender duck breasts, which are served with an earthy root vegetable sauce that's heated with butter for a velvety finish.

Tradition holds that the duck breasts are served with potato dumplings (Kartoffelkloesse) . Soft and filling, potato dumplings are the ideal feel-good comfort food; even better, they’re easy to make at home. Made from butter, flour, eggs, and mashed potatoes, the ingredients are such staples, you probably already have them all on hand. If you’re in a pinch, store-bought packets of instant potato dumpling mix are a quick and effective substitute. (If you’re based outside the EU and instant boxes aren’t as readily available, try visiting your local specialty grocery or an online European store.)

Swedish food writer and art director Martin Nordin’s latest cookbook is dedicated to the mushroom. Called “Laga Svamp” (or “The Mushroom Cookbook”), it’s full of recipes that spotlight the meaty, umami and funky flavors found in mushrooms. While Martin has used mushrooms in soups, stews, skewers and more, for obvious reasons, we’re partial to his mushroom pizzas — and this chanterelle and sweet potato pizza might just be our favorite. Here, chanterelles are the star of the show. (If you know, you know.) If you aren’t already acquainted and you’re ready to step out of the button mushroom box, chanterelles are a good place to start because they’re readily available at specialty grocers and farmers’ markets (look for their distinctive golden brown color and wavy tops).

Even if you’ve been eating chanterelles for years, this pizza will surprise and delight you. It combines layers of sweetness, creaminess, and nuttiness for a surprising depth of flavor. The base begins with a mix of pumpkin seed butter (like peanut butter, but made with pumpkin seeds and often found at specialty grocers) and vegan crème fraîche (or dairy if you prefer). That gets topped with wafer-thin potato slices, sweet shallots, and those earthy, peppery fresh chanterelles. It’s then cooked until slightly charred, then finished with a drizzle of Martin’s signature sour tomato sauce.

This sauce, it should be noted, holds a surreal power over Team Ooni. Ever since hearing about its salty, sour, and slightly fermented flavor, it’s been one of the only sauces we can think about. It’s just not something you come across all that often. Martin’s sauce combines yellow tomatoes, celery, and kimchi, the Korean fermented cabbage dish, the latter lending some of its funky bite to the sweet yellow tomatoes. This sauce is not to be skipped, but it does take 7 to 10 days to prepare, so make sure to get started well in advance. The payoff? You’ll have an unforgettable sauce that can be used for many more dishes: salad dressings, stews, pastas… you name it.

Notes: This recipe serves 6; however, you can reduce the number of dough balls and keep leftover toppings refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days. The sour tomato sauce requires 7 to 10 days to mature, so make sure to start at least a week ahead of time.

Jerusalem artichoke is in season from fall through spring, but it achieves its flavor aspirations in winter. You might know it by the name sunchoke or wild sunflower, and you might already know its nutty, delicious flavor, but we bet you haven’t had it as a pizza sauce. When roasted, puréed, and spread over dough, it makes for an excellent, creamy pizza base that’s really unique. Pairing it with Brussels sprouts and homemade herb oil creates an amalgamation of earthy goodness that’ll warm the cockles of anyone in need of a winter pick-me-up..

Food author and art director Martin Nordin — whose ingredient know-how and scrupulous attention to detail made him a veggie burger god on Instagram, helped him become the global creative leader for IKEA Food, and led to the publication of three cookbooks — is to thank for this wonder.

For those who are unconvinced by sprouts (you must have never tried Motorino’s pancetta and brussels sprout pizza), fear not. Martin balances their slight bitterness and enhances the natural sweetness with a roasted Jerusalem artichoke purée, which is sweet and nutty. To finish, homemade herb oil and freshly ground green peppercorns add a zingy green boost that further serves to lift the flavors.

Martin Nordin's passion for perfecting the ultimate veggie burger garnered him a loyal following on Instagram and led to the creation of his cookbook, Green Burgers. He recently published Fire, Smoke, Green: Vegetarian Barbecue, Smoking, and Grilling Recipes and works as  the creative leader for IKEA food, where he creates delicious vegetarian recipes every day.