Beyond pizza – delicious vegetarian Ooni oven recipes

Whether rain or shine, make your summer a scorcher with a powerful Ooni pizza oven. They reach up to 500˚C in just 20 minutes! Once it’s heated up, there’s a whole world of golden, molten, delicious meals to be cooked up.

With an Ooni oven, the sky really is the limit to your alfresco dining options. Of course, you can make authentic Neapolitan-style pizza in a matter of minutes, but that’s just the beginning.

The Ooni cookbook, ‘Cooking with Fire’, is filled with all sorts of ideas for modern meals and outdoor oven recipes from around the world. Let’s get the culinary and creative juices flowing by checking out some of their cooking suggestions.

From rustic breads and Finnish pastries

A good dough will unlock a thousand delicious recipes. With an Ooni oven, you can create delicious bread-based meals or just enjoy the brilliance of a fresh warm loaf.

We love using Ooni’s wood-fired oven for any rustic bread baking. The smoky flavours absorb into the thick crust, creating a deep-gold finish. If your mouth is watering and you want to flex your chef muscles, check out this Wood-fired Bread Loaf recipe form Ooni. With a generous layer of salty butter, is there anything better?

If you’re working with the Ooni electric or gas-powered oven, then don’t worry – fresh, high-quality carbs are still on the menu! With the heat dials on all models, you get great control over oven temperature and can experiment with flat breads, baguettes and even Finnish pastries.

Let us explain that last one. Ooni oven co-founder Kristian Tapaninaho is from Finland, and he’s bringing traditional Finnish dishes to the world through the Cooking with Fire cookbook. We really liked the sound of Karelian pasties (pictured here), a Finnish rye dough pie. Add some Nordic nibbles to your next garden party!

Chargrilled vegetables

Your Ooni pizza oven can turn any veggie into a beautifully charred, soft and smoky showstopper. Make it a simple as roasted peppers, drizzled with a little olive oil, or go for sizzling extravagance with balsamic glazed aubergine. Summer salad just got good!

For a rich summer recipe, try baking feta with tomatoes and olives. This dish is deliciously simple. Place a block of feta in an Ooni skillet, surround it with cherry tomatoes and olives, drizzle with olive oil, and bake until the feta is soft. Serve this up with crusty bread and enjoy.

For the carnivores out there, there are plenty of recipes to sink your teeth into. From perfectly seared steak to fragrant lamb chops, you’ll find lots of ovenable alternatives to pepperoni pizza. Don’t skimp out on the important details, get those authentic flame-grilled stripes using the double-sided Grizzler pan in your oven.

One of the great things about the Ooni oven is its portability. The Ooni Koda 12 Gas Powered Pizza Oven is just 12.5kg, making it a great beach day or camping trip companion. Grab your tongs and your Ooni apron, and let’s go!

Fresh seafood and frutti di mare

That’s ‘seafood’ to you and me! In Italy frutti di mare pizza is a popular choice. It might be topped with squid, prawns and whole mussels, as well as the classic tomato and creamy mozzarella. 

Or, if you’re wanting to expand beyond pizza then there’s plenty more fish in the sea – and recipes in the book!

Ooni’s steamed mussels and flame-cooked salmon fillets bring us up to date with the founder’s journey. Today, Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland, his wife and co-inventor, are based in Scotland. They’ve set up Ooni HQ there, no doubt enjoying the rugged coastline and fresh Scottish mussels.

Don’t forget to enjoy the classics

Ooni ovens were invented to bring affordable and authentic pizza into our homes. Home-made pizza was the original inspiration for creating the first Ooni oven, so, perhaps obviously, there’s a vast array of flavour ideas and cooking options for this dish.

Don’t forget to use your outdoor oven to explore and nail the classics. Kneading the perfect dough and conjuring up rich tomato sauce takes practice, so take full advantage of Ooni’s tips, recipes and handy gadgets, like the wooden pizza peel and pizza topping station. Now you’re cooking like a Pizzaiolo!