One of our sublime moments: Saturday evening, watching the recorded episode of the last week's 'Frasier' whilst eating one of my pizzas with home-made chips, shaken with salt and paprika, sometimes with an appropriate dip - hummus, guacamole....whatever suits, washed down with a good red wine, usually a cabernet-based New World offering, although a good New Zealand Sauvignon would have gone down well with the asparagus one :-)

For the base, I usually cheat and use bought ones (Napolina are good). All toppings utilise Scheese, a soya-based cheese substitute from Bute Island Foods (I slice it really finely using a potato peeler) or similar products - this layer goes straight on top of the sauce, and the toppings go on top (where else!). Cooking is at 220°C for up to 20 minutes, all recipes for 2 10-inch pizzas.

Basic sauce 1
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp each dried basil, oregano & thyme
200ml passata
1 tbsp sun-dried tomato purée (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil then add the garlic and herbs. Cook for no more than 30 seconds then add the passata and stir well. Add the sun-dried tomato purée if using and the seasonings. Remove from heat, allow to cool a little then spread evenly over the 2 bases.

Basic sauce 2
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp each dried basil, oregano & thyme
3-4 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil then add the garlic and herbs. Cook for no more than 30 seconds then add the tomatoes, stir well and add the seasonings. Cook till the tomatoes are pulpy then remove from heat, allow to cool a little then spread evenly over the 2 bases.

Toppings
1. 'Blue' flavour Scheese, asparagus, black olives and pine nuts
- cut a bunch of asparagus into 2-3 inch lengths and toss in a little olive oil; halve a handful of olives and finally sprinkle with a few pine nuts
2. 'Smoked' flavour Scheese, Cheatin' Rashers and onion
- chop about 2 rashers per pizza into bite-size pieces and toss in olive oil; arrange on top of Scheese, then top with onion rings, tossed in olive oil
3. 'Blue' flavour Scheese, roasted red pepper, capers, sweet potato and leek
- cut the peppers into strips (jar peppers are OK) and scatter, with drained capers, on Scheese surface; top with thin discs of sweet potato and leeks, both pre-tossed in olive oil
4. 'Blue' flavour Scheese, Brussels sprouts, sage and capers (festive special!)
- remove stalk and outer leaves from the sprouts and slice lengthways into at least 3; toss in olive oil and arrange atop the Scheese. Sprinkle coarsely-chopped sage leaves and capers amongst the sprouts
5. Mozzarella Scheese and root vegetables
- thinly slice a small carrot and parsnip, plus about a third of a small swede; further cut the swede into small wedge shapes and steam the vegetables till just starting to soften. Toss in olive oil with rosemary, kalonji seed and seasoning. Place atop the Scheese then add onion rings, also tossed in oil and seasoning
6. 'Blue' flavour Scheese, leek and black olives
- cut a small leek into slices (white and early green part only) and fry both sides in a little olive oil at medium high heat till browning; season and place on pizza with halved olives
7. 'Blue' flavour Scheese, spring onion and capers
- cut 4 spring onions into 3cm pieces, toss in olive oil, season and place on pizza with drained capers
8. Tofutti "Mozzarella Style" slices, sausage and shallots
- cut the slices into 4 small squares each and distribute over the pizza, add slices of shallot, tossed in olive oil, and thinly-slices sausage (a herbed sausage, such as Redwood Vegideli Sage & Marjoram or Holland & Barratt Lincolnshire-style is good)
9. Blue Scheese, broad bean, red onion, black olive, sage & lemon
- sprinkle with a little chopped sage and top with quarter slices of red onion, tossed in olive oil; for the last 5 minutes, add cooked broad beans and black olives, both tossed in oil, and grated lemon rind
10. Tofutti "Cheddar Style" Sices with Garlic Mushrooms
- cut the slices into 4 small squares each and distribute over the pizza; place in the oven then thinly slice 2 field mushrooms and 2oz button mushrooms and prepare as Definitive garlic mushrooms, omitting the parsley and lemon juice. Arrange atop the pizza after 15 minutes, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes

Mexican sauce
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
a little water (5-6 tbsp)
good pinch cayenne pepper or dried chilli flakes
½ tsp each dried oregano, cumin & salt

Put the tomatoes, garlic, cayenne and water in a pan and heat through for about 5 minutes until tomatoes begin to look mushy. Allow to cool slightly then place in a liquidiser with the remaining ingredients and blend to a sauce consistency (a few small chunks are OK). Spread evenly over the 2 bases.

Toppings
1. 'Smoked' flavour Scheese, refried beans, green peppers, chopped pecans and sliced green chillies
 - cut 1 green pepper into 1-2 inch lengths and toss in a little olive oil with half a handful of chopped pecans and 1 sliced green chilli; dot the refried beans over the Scheese before topping with the other ingredients.
2. 'Smoked' flavour Scheese, soya mince, green peppers and sliced green chillies
 - reconstitute TVP mince as in Chef's Tips, adding a little Tabasco and garlic powder; cut 1 green pepper into 1-2 inch lengths and toss in a little olive oil with 1 green chilli, sliced into rounds
3. Nacho Cheezely, salsa, bean and sliced green chillies
 - slice/grate the Cheezely onto the sauce and top with thinly sliced tomatoes, sliced spring onions and green chillies tossed in olive oil and a handful of cooked red kidney beans. Finish with a little extra Cheezely.
4. 'Smoked' flavour Scheese, smoky sweetcorn and garlic
 - slice 2 good, ripe tomatoes into 6 and distribute evenly; toss drained, canned sweetcorn with a little salt, olive oil and smoked paprika and spread around the tomatoes; finally, slice 3 large cloves garlic, toss in olive oil and scatter over the other toppings (optionally add a sliced red chilli, tossed with oil)