Pizza Sauce
This recipe yields about 3 cups of sauce, which will cover 6-18 pizzas depending on size and amount of sauce used. It will store fine in the refrigerator up to 1 month, or it can be divided and frozen. Use the best quality canned Italian plum tomatoes you can find. I recommend those found in food service size cans from Contadina. The vodka is little to begin with and will mostly cook off, but it will help to dissolve and mingle flavors from the tomato and essential oils of the spices.
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
¼ tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano (crush with hands)
1 tsp dried basil (crush with hands)
28 oz canned tomatoes, drained
12 oz canned tomato paste
1 tbsp vodka
1 dash hot sauce -or- 1 pinch red pepper (optional)
2 tsp garlic paste -or- 1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp olive oil (organic extra virgin)
1-2 tsp sugar
¼ cup grated parmesan
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
Blend the canned tomatoes in a blender or food processor until turned into sauce. Put through strainer to remove seeds and unprocessed bits. Combine with spices in a medium sauce pan and simmer over medium to low heat for 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients (paste, oil, sugar, parmesan) and stir thoroughly.
Adjustments – If you like your pizza sauce sweet, spicy, or tangy, you can shift ingredients in this recipe until you get your perfect pizza. Just increase or decrease the hot sauce, sugar and vinegar.