My apologies for the silly title…I’m starting to really feel the effects of the quarantine! But on a more serious note, pizza is a staple at our house and some weeks we eat homemade pizzas two if not three times a week. My husband is the one who cooks this meal for our family and he always makes the most terrific pizzas! Sometimes we make basic margarita pizzas and that’s exactly what we are making tonight. Now if you know anything about pizza (lol) then you know that you MUST have a great pizza sauce to go on a great pizza. Today, I’m going to share my pizza sauce and the best news is that is super easy along with being super tasty and you can make it ahead of time!

You will notice in the recipe that you will need to roast your garlic. By roasting your garlic you will get a deep flavor from those little garlic cloves. Here’s a tip that I use…I grab a small amount of tin foil and make a bowl using my hands. Then place your whole/skin-on garlic cloves in the tin foil and lightly cover with a good olive oil. Fold up the sides and make a ball out of the tin foil and wah-lah….you are all set to roast your garlic! I roast my garlic for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. You should just start to smell that fragrant smell of roasted garlic at the 15 minute mark; let it go for about 5 more minutes. Allow the garlic to rest in the tin foil for a few minutes to help cool down. That roasted garlic will squeeze out of its skins when it’s time to add it to the sauce. Now let’s talk about the tomatoes and the process of making the sauce!

I like using Tuttorosso Peeled Plum Italian Style Tomatoes. It’s plum tomatoes in their own juices…nothing added…just tomatoes. This allows you to build your own flavor profile with your unique sauce. You will not be cooking this sauce except when it’s on your pizza and the best part is you get to get your hands dirty by squeezing all those tomatoes and garlic, so this could be fun for kids to make as well. I use a large mixing bowl to squish all of the ingredients together, followed by straining the sauce to separate the juice from the actual sauce itself and lastly I reserve my flavorful tomato juice to have with breakfast or a delicious cocktail! Here are some pics of the process and the recipe!

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 (28 oz) can of Italian Style Peeled Plum Tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, roasted with skin on
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (optional)
• Olive oil for roasting garlic

Directions:

• Roast garlic in a 350 degree F oven. (Directions for this above) Allow garlic to cool.
• Add tomatoes and garlic to a large mixing bowl and squish by hand until all tomatoes are broken.
• Add salt, sugar and Italian seasoning and mix by hand.
• Taste to make sure you have a good balance of salt and sugar.
• Strain the sauce into a second large mixing bowl and reserve any left over tomato juice for drinking.
• Add to pizza! Store any left overs. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
• Enjoy!