I don’t know about you, but I am always in need of quick, weekday meals.  Since my mom gave Kevin and me a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day we usually have some dough chillin’ in the fridge.  Lately, we’ve been rolling out the dough from the original recipe and making pizza crusts.  After a quick preheat, lunch or dinner is ready in a matter of minutes!  There’s only one problem: I’ve always been on the fence about prepared pizza sauce, and when I tried experimenting on my own, my sauces were runny or flavorless, so I always caved in to convenience and bought the over-priced pizza sauce at the store even though I knew it was something I could make on my own.
Enter the California Heritage Cookbook’s recipe for pizza sauce.  It’s one of the few vintage cookbooks I own that has a recipe for pizza, so I decided to put it to the test.  Well, I will never buy pizza sauce again.  This recipe yielded a thick sauce that was both sweet and spicy.  And, it freezes perfectly too!  Take that, Thursday evenings.
Pizza Sauce
(adapted from The California Heritage Cookbook, c. 1976)
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 tbsp. of each of the following fresh herbs, chopped: fresh oregano, basil, thyme, and parsley
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1. Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2. Add tomato puree and paste and cook over low heat for another 10 minutes.
3. Add herbs and pepper flakes and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Spread on pizza dough along with your favorite toppings.  (We had fresh mozzarella and prosciutto.)
5. Freeze any extra sauce for up to 2 months.
I have really have to get that 5 mins a day cookbook!
Friday or Saturday nights are pizza nights at our place … nothing like having another homemade pizza sauce to add to the repertoire! Salut!
I am happy to know that I have a vintage cookbook! You are probably on the fence because of the time you worked in the pizza parlor! 🙂
Spaghetti sauce does freeze well!
Please participate in my giveaway at http://atasteofkoko.blogspot.com/2010/05/men-can-cook-feat-classic-spaghetti.html
We love to eat pizza about once a week. Usually we do take and bake but I’ve been wanting to make one from scratch. Your sauce looks wonderfully rich and full of flavor! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh, yum! I always wonder why anyone would buy pizza sauce, when it’s so easy to make. This looks like it would have a fresh, lively taste to go with the mozzarella and prosciutto. Perfect.