Garden Vegetable (Ortolana)

Most vegetable pizzas fail the same way: piled with raw veg that steams the base into a wet mess. The fix is to roast or griddle the vegetables first. They lose their water, gain colour and sweetness, and sit lightly on top instead of drowning the dough.

Ingredients (per pizza)

• 1 sourdough base
• Courgette, red pepper and aubergine, sliced and roasted in olive oil
• 70g raw tomato sauce, 80g mozzarella
• Basil, olive oil, sea salt

Method

1. Roast or griddle the vegetables until soft and lightly charred. Season and cool.
2. Stretch the base, spread the sauce and add the mozzarella.
3. Arrange the roasted vegetables on top — enough to cover, not to bury.
4. Bake at 250°C+ until charred, 6–8 minutes, and finish with basil and a drizzle of oil.

Roast the vegetables the day before and keep them in the fridge. A great veg pizza is really a bit of forward planning.