Homemade Pizza Sauce

Homemade pizza sauce: fresh, tasty, and ready in less than 30 minutes!

I love a good, homemade pizza. The most important thing next to the crust is the sauce. I'm one of those that likes a good amount of sauce on my pizza. If it doesn't have enough, I need a little extra for dipping.

It really only takes a few good ingredients to make an excellent sauce: crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flake, basil, and oregano. I've included the measurements for both dry and fresh herbs. Just remember, if using dry herbs: add them to the sauce at the beginning of the simmering stage. Dry herbs can withstand longer cooking times and actually need the simmering time to bloom their flavors. Fresh herbs are more fragile and need to be added at the very end to preserve the fresh flavor and appearance.

I actually took a little hiatus from making my homemade pizza sauce, until recently. I found a store bought brand that actually tasted pretty close to homemade. It became my favorite sauce until recently when our grocery store stopped carrying it! Of course, that always happens when I find something I really like. It's okay, homemade sauce is always best. Plus, this recipe is easy to make ahead and freezes really well.This recipe makes the equivalent of two jars of the other sauce I was using. I generally use half of this sauce for our pizza and freeze an extra jar for a future use.


Homemade Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a large onion, diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped finely
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, or 3 teaspoons of fresh basil
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
• 1-28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 teaspoon fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a medium size saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add finely chopped onions, and saute for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flake and saute for about 1 minutes or until fragrant. Adjust heat to medium/low and add crushed tomatoes. Stir in sugar, basil (if using fresh, add at the very end), salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened.

2. Allow sauce to sit uncovered for 10 minutes to cool slightly before using. Sauce will thicken slightly as it stands. Use immediately for pizza or cool completely and store in jars in refrigerator or freezer.

From Tasteful Cuisine

Need some tips on preserving oregano and other herbs? Now is the time to start harvesting your herbs for winter!

Preserving Fresh Herbs

Chipotle Sauce

Creamy, spicy chipotle sauce. A versatile condiment that is easy to make!

I made fish tacos for the first time the other night. Which, I don't know how I went so long without trying them. So good. Seriously, they were a cinch to make and a nice break from the traditional tacos that I make. I do have to make a few tweaks to my recipe before I post it, but hopefully it will make the blog in the near future.


Since I was trying to stray from my traditional taco recipe, I did not want a sour cream and salsa topping. I whipped up this spicy, chipotle sauce and it gave the tacos the right amount of kick.

With this sauce, you can control the amount of spice you want. If you don't want it to be overly spicy, don't add as much chipotle pepper or adobo sauce. If you do want it to be extra spicy, you may want to add more. I made it in the middle, not too spicy, not too mild. I think it's just right.

I used plain nonfat Greek yogurt and mayonnaise. I feel that the yogurt by itself would be a little too tangy, so I used a combo of both. If you don't have Greek yogurt, regular plain yogurt or sour cream would be good substitutes. In a blender, mix together the yogurt and mayo with some freshly chopped garlic, a dash of salt, and two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I also add in a little bit of the adobo sauce (other than what's already on the pepper). Throw those ingredients into a blender with a splash of lime juice (The lime juice adds a nice fresh flavor. I only used a quarter of a lime, but add as much as you would like!). Blend well, scraping down the sides as needed. It took a couple of minutes to get it blended well, as I had to scrape down the sides a couple of times to get everything incorporated and the chipotle peppers chopped up.

Transfer the sauce to an airtight container and lick the blender clean. Okay, maybe don't lick it, but scrape out every bit of sauce you can. Store sauce in the fridge for up to a week.

Drizzle this sauce over fish, fish tacos, sandwiches, salads-there are so many possibilities for this sauce!

Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plaint, nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped + 1 teaspoon of the sauce
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
• Dash of salt
• Freshly squeezed lime juice-I used 1/4 of a lime

Directions

1. In a blender, combine the yogurt, mayo, chopped chipotle peppers, garlic, salt and lime juice. Blend sauce until combined, scraping sides as needed. Taste to adjust lime, salt, and adobo sauce.

2. Store sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one week. Sauce goes great with fish, chicken, sandwiches, salads and anything else you think it'd be good on--use your imagination!

Hershey's Cocoa Fudge Sauce

Rich, homemade fudge sauce. The perfect topping to any sundae!

We had a family barbeque last night for our holiday weekend. It was the typical menu with burgers, brats, potato salad, slaw and baked beans. Man, was it good! There's nothing like the first summer barbeque.


When it comes to summer desserts. I like to keep things simple. For our dinner last night, I made some homemade brownies and let everyone create their own sundae with vanilla ice cream and various toppings. No brownie sundae is complete without some rich, hot fudge. This hot fudge recipe is one my mom has made for many years. It's from the 1934 Hershey's cookbook and has always been our "go to" hot fudge recipe.

It's so simple and takes no time at all. Don't buy store bought chocolate sauce...make this sauce now!

Ingredients

•  1/4 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• A pinch or two of salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a saucepan, whisk all dry ingredients together. Add corn syrup and milk and whisk until incorporated. Bring to a boil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes*.
2. Remove from heat and stir in softened butter and vanilla extract. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Cool completely before storing. Store in the refrigerator up to two weeks.
Yields: 1 1/2 cups of sauce
*The cooking time depends on the consistency you like. For a syrup-like consistency, cook for 5 minutes. For a fudge-like consistency, cook for 7 minutes.

Source: Hershey's 1934 Cookbook Revised 1971 Edition

A special thank you to the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for our country. They are the reason we live in this blessed country. To that I do not say "happy" memorial day but, "thank you" for the sacrifices you have made for our freedom. God bless America.

Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

I first came across this recipe on Pinterest. There are several recipes out there for cauliflower sauce but I adapted this one from Pinch of Yum. It is designed to be a healthy version of Alfredo sauce. It's a clever use of cauliflower and a great way to add more vegetables into your diet. The sauce can be very versatile but I usually serve it over pasta topped with sliced chicken and Parmesan cheese. While this meant to be like an Alfredo, it will not taste like Alfredo. Alfredo is rich and buttery and the cauliflower sauce is light and, well, tastes like cauliflower! To me, it's the perfect guilt-free sauce, because I can pile it on without  thinking about the calories. And it's husband approved!


The sauce does pose a small challenge. Cauliflower isn't the most flavorful vegetable, so you have to incorporate as much flavor as possible into a very simple dish. The original recipe calls for 5-6 cups (or a whole head) of cauliflower to be boiled in 6-7 water or vegetable broth. I do not suggest using water because it won't add as much flavor to the dish. You can, you just won't get the same results. I felt it would be wasteful to make or buy all that vegetable stock when only 1 cup gets incorporated into the sauce. So, I decided to infuse the water before adding the cauliflower by making a quick broth in the same pot. In a dutch oven, I added 5-6 cups of water, a small onion, carrot, celery, garlic, a bay leaf and salt. Quarter the onion and chop the carrot into big pieces. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the cauliflower and boil for 10 minutes or until tender.


After preparing the cauliflower, it is pureed in the blender with delicious garlic butter, milk and broth. I served this sauce over pasta with with a side salad and garlic bread. This is a great make ahead sauce that reheats and freezes well. Here is the recipe to this delicious sauce:



Creamy Cauliflower Sauce
Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients:

6-7 cups water
Vegetables to create a broth: 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery, 1 small onion, 1 smashed clove of garlic and 1 bay leaf.
5 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced finely
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 head of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of milk
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

1.  In a dutch oven, bring to boil water, carrot, onion, 1 clove garlic, bay leaf and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add cauliflower florets and boil for 10 minutes or until fork tender.

2. To prepare the garlic, melt butter in a 12-inch skillet (this is the skillet you will return the sauce to). Peel, smash and finely chop the garlic. Add the garlic to the melted butter and saute only until the garlic is fragrant. It only takes about 30 seconds. If you cook the garlic longer, you run the risk of browning it. Browning or overcooking garlic will make it bitter. You just want to soften the garlic and release the flavor.

3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cauliflower florets to blender along with the garlic butter, 1 cup of broth and milk. Puree until smooth adding more milk or broth if needed. You may need to blend in two batches depending on the size of your blender. Pour sauce into skillet and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn on low heat and keep warm until ready to serve. You can add more broth or milk if needed and depending on the consistency you want. If you want a thin sauce add more liquid. If the sauce gets dry, add more broth, milk, butter or olive oil. Serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese* if desired.

*Parmesan cheese goes really well with this sauce. However, it will not melt into the sauce so I suggest just adding a sprinkle on top.