MARGHERITA PIZZA CREAMY CASHEW CHEESE

PREP 30 minutes plus 1+ hours rising time COOK 10 minutes per pizza MAKES 4 pizzas – enough for 6 people

2 cups cashews

⅔ cup plant-based milk or water

¼ cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

DOUGH

½ cup warm water

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp instant yeast granules

1½ cups high-grade flour

1½ cups plain flour

1 cup fine semolina, plus extra for under the base

1 cup cold water

1 tsp salt

TOMATO SAUCE

⅔ cup tomato paste

½ cup warm water

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp balsamic vinegar TOPPINGS

500g fresh, very ripe red tomatoes flaky salt and cracked pepper chilli flakes

1 cup grated dairy-free cheese (optional) fresh basil leaves

TO MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE

Use a pre-made GF base and no semolina.

METHOD:

Place the cashews in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 20 minutes or until needed.

To make the dough, place the warm water in a small bowl and whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the yeast and leave to sit for 5–10 minutes until the yeast foams up.

Place the flours, semolina, cold water and salt in a large mixing bowl and add the frothy yeast mixture. Stir until it comes together to form a craggy dough, then tip it out on to a lightly floured benchtop and knead for around 10 minutes, or until it’s very stretchy and it springs back when you press a finger into it. You can add a little more flour if it seems sticky, but not too much.

Oil inside a large clean bowl and add the dough to it. Cover with a clean cloth and leave in a warm, draught-free place until it’s doubled in size — this might take an hour or two.

While the dough is rising, prepare the cheese and tomato sauce. Drain the cashews, then whizz in a high-speed or bullet blender along with the milk or water, nutritional yeast and salt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and add salt to taste.

Slice the tomatoes and sit them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.

Once the dough has doubled in size, break it into 4 even pieces, roll them into balls and place on a well-floured baking tray or benchtop. Leave for another 15 minutes until looking a bit puffy.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240°C fan-bake (or basically the hottest your oven will go). Set the rack near the bottom of the oven. If you have a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven now, or preheat a nice thick oven tray instead. If you want to bake more than one pizza at a time, preheat a second pizza stone or oven tray as well.

Sprinkle a large board, or a baking tray without sides, with a layer of semolina so that you can easily shimmy your assembled pizzas onto the hot stone or oven tray.

Squash out each dough ball between your hands, then sort of shimmy it around, holding the edge so that it stretches out a bit using gravity. Place it on top of the semolina and finish pulling it into a rough circle using your fingers and palms. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit uneven-looking — just make sure there are no holes. You want the edges to be a bit thicker than the middle bit. You can use a rolling pin, but I don’t reckon it works as well.

Spread some tomato sauce out on each base using the back of a dessert spoon. Spread with some of the cashew cheese and arrange tomato slices on top. Season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Sprinkle with the cheese, if using.

Open the oven and carefully slide each pizza on to the preheated stone or tray. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the crust is golden. Slice, top with basil leaves and serve.