“White pizza” – ie pizza without tomato sauce – is a popular street food in Rome. Here we’ve paired the creamy base with out-of-this-world tempeh bacon and sweet juicy nectarine.

Ingredients

For tempeh bacon:

200g tempeh 

1½ teaspoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons maple syrup (or 4 teaspoons sugar and 2 teaspoons water)

Few drops liquid smoke (see notes)

For pizza:

Pizza base of your choice

100g Angel Food mozzarella, grated

30g Angel Food cream cheese, sliced

1 fresh peach or nectarine

To garnish:

Basil leaves (or rocket leaves)

Pickled red onion (see recipe here)

Instructions

1.              Mix the tempeh bacon marinade ingredients in a bowl. Cut (or tear) the tempeh into bite-size (or slightly larger) pieces. Put them in the marinade and stir gently so they’re all coated in marinade. Set aside for at least 20 minutes: you could also leave them marinating in the fridge overnight.

2.              Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking sheet or pizza tray with baking paper.

3.              Put your pizza base on the baking tray and sprinkle over the grated mozzarella. Distribute pieces of cream cheese and about half the marinated tempeh evenly on the pizza base. Cut slices of peach/nectarine: start at the top and cut through to the stone, working the knife down to the bottom of the fruit then back up the other side. Repeat about six times, to create 12 slices. If it’s a freestone fruit they’ll be easy to remove; if it’s a clingstone they’ll need a little coaxing off the stone! Arrange the slices on the pizza.

4.              Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tempeh is browned and crispy.

5.              Before serving, garnish with fresh basil or rocket, and pink pickled onions.

Notes

TEMPEH: This recipe makes twice as much tempeh as you’ll need for 1 pizza. The rest can be baked or fried, in a sandwich or salad or on rice or noodles. You can keep it (cooked or uncooked) in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for several months.

LIQUID SMOKE: Liquid smoke is a very useful ingredient but to be approached with caution because in some brands the flavour is very concentrated and I know from experience that even if you like smoky flavours (like I do) too much liquid smoke will actually make your meal taste like dirt :-) So start with a few drops, taste the marinade and add a little more if you think it needs it. Oh, and if you’re wondering what liquid smoke is: it’s a flavouring agent made from burning wood and condensing the smoke into a liquid which is then filtered to remove impurities.

PIZZA BASE: we made our own base for this recipe but often we’ll use a ready-made naan or pita bread or even a wrap. They all work well.