Pizza is, without a doubt, my favorite food. Cheesy, warm, loaded with veggies or meat, it's my go-to dinner when I want to indulge a bit. Food Revolution is having a weekly cook off, and this week the challenge is pizza! How could I say no?
I have written about pizza before and shared my favorite dough recipe, but I didn't give you my home made sauce or the toppings that landed on this particular one. Make pizza sauce is so easy, there's really no reason to buy it. Just make a batch and freeze in small 1/2 cup servings, then it's always ready to just thaw and spread on a pizza when you need it! Now you may notice that this sauce will seem more watery than the stuff you buy, but that is because it doesn't have all the thickeners and emulsifiers in it. If you prefer your sauce to be thicker, then stir in some tomato paste and you shouldn't have a problem.
Pizza Sauce
Adapted from Canadian Living
one 28 oz can of plum tomatoes (Italian ones are really good if you can find them, and sometimes they are low sodium)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
pinch sugar
In a frypan over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the oregano, salt, pepper, wine vinegar, and pinch of sugar, stirring and cooking a bit more. Add the tomatoes and break up with a spoon.
Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the sauce is thickened. Let it cool to lukewarm before transferring to food processor or blender and blending until smooth.
Okay now you have sauce, a link for dough, let's move on to toppings! I have become somewhat of a roasted tomato addict these days. Roasting tomatoes brings out the natural sweetness and they turn into these little bites of concentrated tomato goodness. First, pick up a carton of really good cherry tomatoes at the Farmer's Market or, if you were like me and missed it this week, the store.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Pre-heat oven to 400 F
Get a rimmed baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Cut all your cute cherry tomatoes in half and put them in a bowl, then drizzle them with enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top.
Dump them out on the parchment paper, cut side up and spread out so that they are a single layer. Roast for about 45 minutes, or until wrinkled and dried out looking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Now, for the pizza!
Roll out your dough and fit it in a pan. Slather with sauce. Cover with some mozzarella cheese, then dot with roasted cherry tomatoes, some thinly sliced bell pepper rings, thinly sliced fresh mushrooms, and thinly sliced pieces of fresh garlic. Dot with crumbled bits of Boursin cheese. (I used about 1/3 to 1/2 package)
Bake your pizza at 450 F for about 10 minutes or so, until the bottom of the crust is all nice and brown-about the color that you like your toast. I like to turn on the broiler and broil the top a bit to get the cheese a bit browned and bubbly, but if you do this, be careful! You'd hate to forget about the pizza and let it burn by accident.
Let it cool slightly before slicing up, and enjoy.
Makes one medium sized pizza (enough for 3-4 people
