LESSON #2

PREPARING A TOMATO-BASED PIZZA SAUCE

This tomato sauce is lightly herbed with oregano and basil, yet the basic tomato taste is allowed to shine through. Some pizza aficionados prefer an even simpler sauce than this, but, you'll like the colors and bouquet this sauce adds to your own, home-made pizza.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. - Butter
16 Oz. - Can of Tomato Puree
3 Tbsp. - Olive Oil
1 Tsp. - Salt
3 Cloves - Garlic, Minced
1/4 Tsp. - Black Pepper
3 Large - Yellow Onions, Minced
1 Tsp. - Whole Oregano
2 Qts. - Canned Whole Italian Tomatoes
1 Tsp. - Whole Basil

(Makes about 2 quarts of sauce.)

Preparation:

In a Dutch oven or large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil and slowly but completely sauté the garlic and onion.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and puree. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for two hours. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes with a potato masher.

Continue to mash, stir, and simmer partially covered until the sauce reaches the consistency of a rich soup.

If you find you have too many or too large tomato seeds left in the sauce, you may run the sauce through a sieve, (strainer). Set the sauce aside to cool or refrigerate before applying it to your pizza dough.