Salutations Steemit Friends!

Last week, I posted this easy-to-make recipe for a super quick rising pizza dough. Today, I'm going to share with you another easy-peasy recipe for pizza tomato sauce. You'll just need a few basic ingredients and you'll be pizza pie saucy in no time!

First, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (or 232 Celsius). You may need to up the temp. to 500 depending on how much sauce and toppings you place on your pizza and how well your oven heats.

Personally, I like to bake my pizza with a pizza pan placed on top of a pizza stone. This way the pie still gets the even heat from the stone and it's easier to safely pull out of the oven. Plus, the stone stays prettier longer (lol). If you don't own a pizza stone, it's no biggie, your pie will still turn out magically delicious!

Before we roll out the dough, we'll need to grease the pan. You can use good ol' olive oil; I've had success with avocado oil too. Spread the oil around the pan with your hands or a paper towel. Make sure to coat the entire surface of the pan.

Next, sprinkle all-purpose unbleached flour over the oil until you have a thin layer. If you prefer to use cornmeal (and have it) you're obliged to, but I find that all-purpose flour does the trick.

Kneaded your dough? Great! Now we're ready to rollllll!!! Once again, @alexpmorris has been gracious enough to be my sous chef / hand model for this tutorial.

I've found the quickest and easiest way to roll out the dough is to do so directly on the pan. To do this, I like to use a lightly floured (and thick-walled) glass in place of a rolling pin.

Okay, you rolled out the dough, next, let's get sauccyyy...

You'll find many different homemade pizza sauce recipes on the interwebs. Some fancier than others. I've found that this basic recipe using tomato paste is quick, easy and flavorful.

Easy-Peasy Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste (I like white or rainbow)
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1/2 tsp of dried rosemary**
Pinch of sugar

**If I have fresh herbs on hand, that's what I prefer to use. If not, this is what I use dried. Feel free to make adaptations to fit your preferences.

Directions

In a saucepan, combine together the tomato paste, water and extra virgin olive oil. Mix well until smooth. Add minced garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and herbs. Cover and let simmer for twenty minutes.

The longer you allow the sauce to stand, the better the flavors will blend together. Leftover sauce the next day is dynamite!

Now, spread a thin layer of sauce...

Lately, I've been loving some basil pesto sauce on the crust and blended inwards into the tomato sauce. Hmmm......sssoooo saucy!

Sprinkle a thin layer of shredded mozzarella onto your pie and top with whatever toppings tickle your pickle. I like my crust on the thin side. Typically, I let the pie bake for about 18 minutes, turn the heat off, and then let it sit in the oven for another five.

How long you should bake your pizza depends on your personalized ratio of crust thickness to sauce to toppings. It may take some tweaking, but with a bit of practice, you'll get it just right.

The toppings on this pretty pie is my twist on a "Hawaiian" style pizza. Fresh tomato and pineapple, sweet peppers, onion, kalamata olives and Canadian bacon. Sometimes I add fresh mango and goat cheese too. Delish!

Bravo! Good job! Now, slice that baby up and help yourself to one hot, steem-y slice! Don't mind if I do...

Oh, and if the bottom of your pizza still seems a bit soggy, just pop it back in the oven, on top of the stone. It'll crisp it up in just a few.

How do you like your pizza? What kind of toppings? I'd love to know!

Again, this basic recipe is what has been working for me. Feel free to adapt it for your own liking! If you have an awesome pizza recipe and or yummy tips, please share in the comments below. Until next time...

Bon Appétit!

Michelle

xx

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P.S.S. If you are on the hunt for a quality pizza stone, I highly recommend this one.