You can not go wrong by homemade pizza sauce.  Who doesn’t enjoy a good pizza and isn’t the sauce one of the key components that make a terrific pizza?

This weeks DSC_0355 recipe is posted by Chris and can be found on page 40 of our book.  This recipe is loosely written so I have added suggestions based upon how I made and used the sauce.

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1 (#2 1/2 can) crushed tomatoes = 28 oz can.  *I had to look this one up and it means 3 1/2 cups.  The link to older ingredient quantities can be found here.   
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp crushed oregano
    1/2 tsp basil  *I used fresh basil. 3 Large leaves, chopped DSC_3467
    clove of garlic, minced

    1/2 lb mozzarella cheese
    4 TBS oil
    4 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
    dash of pepper

   1 large pizza shell or loaf of bread dough

In a sauce pan, heat oil (over medium heat) and add minced garlic.  When garlic is lightly brown (about 1minute – don’t burn), remove from heat (simply lower heat to a simmer rather than removing the pan and garlic from the heat source).  Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, oregano, basil, and pepper.  Simmer 10 – 15 minutes.

Prepare the pizza:  Put simmered sauce on the pizza shell.  Add as much as you enjoy but you most likely won’t use all the sauce you made. So make additional pizzas or store the sauce for later use (in the freezer for about 1 month). See below for a tip on freezing a completely assembled homemade pizza. 

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There is no direction on what temperature to set the oven.  I preheated to 450 F then lowered the heat to 425 F before putting the prepared pizza in to bake.

Add mozzarella cheese and bake 20 – 30 minutes ( I baked for 8 minutes) .

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Five minutes before it is done, remove from oven and spread Parmesan cheese on pizza. Bake another 5 minutes and serve.  NOTE: I believe there is a typo in our book it tells us to spread Parmesan cheese twice and to bake for almost an hour.  I changed the recipe and added the mozzarella first with the final addition being the Parmesan.  It seemed to work but if anyone has tried anything different, e.g. followed the recipe, please let me know.

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Love it!  The sauce has “tang”.  It is fresh and robust.  I really appreciate that it doesn’t contain any sugar.  The result:  A simple cheese pizza with homemade sauce. Does it get any better?

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*Tip for freezing assembled UNCOOKED pizza:   Make sauce as directed. Allow to cool.  Place pizza crust on a flat baking sheet.  Add toppings and put into the freezer for about 30 minutes.

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  Remove from freezer and carefully wrap in a foil base and plastic cover. 2 layers of plastic wrap.  When ready to use, preheat oven to 450 F.  Place frozen pizza on a cookie sheet and bake 12 – 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Use within 2  weeks. 

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Pizza Sauce Recipe on FoodistaPizza Sauce Recipe

Joanne

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