Make your Own Pizza or Pasta Sauce

Again homemade is better. This takes a little time but it's worth it. This sauce works on pizza or pasta and with a little change in seasonings and by omitting the olive oil, you can make a salsa from this recipe.

Tomato Sauce for Pizza or Pasta

2 to 3 cups peeled and seeded Roma tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed, dried oregano or a tablespoon of fresh
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves or two teaspoons fresh
2 tablespoons olive oil

Baker’s note: Alter the quantities of the garlic, oregano, and basil to suit your tastes. If you like more, add more.

Directions

Chop the seeded tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Cook the tomatoes along with the seasonings and sugar for ten minutes or until it starts to thicken, stirring frequently. Add the olive oil. Let cool.

How to Chop and Seed Tomatoes

1. Bring a pan of water to boil. Place four or five tomatoes at a time in the hot water and leave them in the bath for one minute. Remove them from the water and start another batch. Let the tomatoes cool to where you can handle them.
2. Peel the tomatoes by starting a small slit in the skin with a knife at the tip of a tomato. Grasp the edge of the skin and peel the skin from the tomato in strips. Repeat with each tomato.
3. Cut the stem end from each tomato. Cut the tomato in half. Squeeze the seeds from the tomato using your thumb to loosen the seeds as needed. If you are seeding Roma tomatoes, the outer flesh is about all that will remain. Repeat with all the tomatoes. Discard the seeds.

Read more about pizza and calzones at our Pizza and Calzone Center. >>