Homemade Pizza Sauce

If you ask a person with any Italian heritage to go and eat take-out pizza, they're likely to screw up their noses and say no...

This is because nothing beats the taste, texture or aroma of a real, traditional homemade pizza using freshly made homemade pizza sauce.

The best part about making homemade pizza sauce is that you can make a big batch of it and then store it for later use.

You only need to use around 3/4 cup of pizza sauce to cover the base of a good sized pizza that should feed the family, so if you have any left-over that you're not using, you can freeze it for a couple of weeks until the next time you make pizza.

There are a couple of basic recipes for home made pizza sauce that are slightly different in the type and amount of herbs used. Experiment and see which sauce works best for your tastes.

Traditional Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tin tomato paste (6oz or 175ml)
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1/2 crushed garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped basil
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed

Method

1. Add all ingredients to a saucepan and heat over a low heat. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop sauce scorching on the bottom.



2. When sauce thickens a little, it's ready to use. Taste test your sauce and add salt and pepper to taste if you feel it needs it.



3. Use a spoon to pour enough sauce into the center of a pizza base and then use the back of the spoon to spread it out in an even layer.



4. When the pizza base is covered, top with your favorite pizza toppings.



5. Before you complete your pizza with mozzarella cheese, use your spoon to drizzle a few light drops of extra sauce over the top of your pizza. This gives it an extra tangy taste.



6. Store any left-over pizza sauce in an air-tight container and freeze for up to 3 weeks.

Tangy Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tin crushed tomatoes (14oz or 410ml)
• 1 tin tomato paste (6oz or 175ml)
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped red pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped basil
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

Method

1. In a saucepan, lightly heat the olive oil.



2. Cook the chopped onion and minced garlic until the onion begins to soften. Don't burn the garlic or it will turn bitter. You just want to release the flavor of the onion and garlic at this stage - adding raw onion to cooked tomato gives an acidic flavour that you want to avoid for tangy pizza sauce.



3. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.



4. Remember to stir occasionally to stop your sauce sticking to the pan and scorching.



5. When your home made pizza sauce is ready ladle some into the center of a pizza base and use the back of the ladle to spread the sauce in a thin layer across your pizza.



6. Store any unused pizza sauce in an air-tight container and freeze for 3-4 weeks.

Garlic Oil Sauce

Not everyone likes tomato-based pizza sauce, so if you're thinking of making a gourmet seafood pizza or a chicken pizza, then perhaps consider using a garlic oil sauce as your pizza base. It tastes wonderful and gives your pizza a lovely exotic flavour.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic

Method

Add your ingredients to a blender and then puree them. Brush the garlic oil sauce lightly over your pizza base and top with your favorite toppings.