Anyone have a good pizza sauce recipe

[mndapa1]

My wife called this morning and the grandkids wanted to make home made pizza. She wanted to know if i had a good pizza sauceo recipe. I cant remember ever making home made pizza...anyone have a good recipe?

[colonelbuckrobely]

Here is a traditional one by way of "Italian Feast" by Antonio Carluccio. He used to be on Public Television. I am not sure what part of Italy he was from. His recipes tend to be simple but pretty good. I don't know if kids will like it or not but I do.

1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes (I prefer crushed)
6 fresh basil leaves
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fry the onion gently in the olive oil until soft without coloring. Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and salt and pepper.

He also does a simple Pizza Fritta that only has a topping of the tomato sauce, 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 12 fresh basil leaves. Kids probably would prefer some pepperoni or sausage as well. He actually makes the pizza dough from scratch and fries it gently in olive oil on both sides then applies the sauce and basil leaves on top. It is simple but very good.

[colonelbuckrobely]

I forgot to mention that this is another one I have tried. I don't like it as well as the simple one above, but it gives you an option.

blog.cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2008/04/how-to-make-pizza-sauce-from-scratch.html

[hasset]

I am a master at making good sour dough pizza dough but I can't get the sauce right. I remember 20 yrs. ago when GodFather Pizza was wondeful and you could smell it three blocks away from their business but then they changed their recipe and now it is ordinary. I have tried to figure out why their old sauce was so good. I wonder if using fresh herbs would make a difference. I was going to try to grow some but when I looked into it, I see where herbs are not easy to grow and there are gobs of different types of basil plants. Is there an expert on herbs out there?

[colonelbuckrobely]

Please post your sour dough crust recipes.

[valvalentino]

Good afternoon, Hasset,

Yes we would like your sour dough pizza crust recipe. I believe you live in Iowa. Are you aware that Des Moines has a nice sized Italian population? The best Italian sausage I have ever had comes from there. It is fabulous on pizza, in stuffed pasta shells or lasagna. It is Graziano's. My step-son buys it for me at the Dahl's grocery store there but you might be able to find it in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport or Waterloo. It is worth looking for.

Now share your pizza dough recipe, please.

[hasset]

Sour Dough for one big pizza or two mediums (two versions)

VERSION #1
This recipe came from Mary Ann Esposito who has a cooking show on Public Television called "Ciao Italia". I saw this on her program about 15 years ago. You can add 1/2 tsp.salt but I leave it out. I always add Aldi's pasta and pizza seasoning (in a grinder) over the top of a finished pizza before baking. It has sea salt in it which seems to add enough salt without competing with the sour dough flavor.

Sour dough starter:
1/2 Cup of warm water
3/4 teaspoon of yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour (Bread flour is best)

Mix well and cover with saran. Put where it is warm like on the counter or window sill and leave it alone for a few days. Then you can put it in the refrigerator with a lid but when you are going to use it, make sure it is room temperature.

The Dough:
The sourdough starter
1 1/2 Cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
3 1/2 Cups flour added a little at a time.
The dough should be smooth and not too sticky but not dry. Add more flour if you need it. I use a large mixer with dough hooks and towards the last I knead the dough by hand.

Put olive oil on your hands and then pat the dough all around to lightly coat it. Put it in a big bowl with saran or a towel lightly covering it. Let it rise. (I do this in a luke warm oven and it doesn't take long.) The more rising, the more flavor. When it is doubled in size, it will be soft and springy and stretchy.

Save a hunk of the dough to be used as the starter for the next pizza and keep it in the refrigerator in a covered jar.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured counter into the shape of the pizza(s) you want. Put the dough on a wooden
pizza paddle that has been sprinkled with corn meal. Put the toppings on the dough and then slide it off the paddle onto a baking stone in a 450 degree preheated oven. (The corn meal makes it slide off the paddle) The stone should be on the bottom rack with the other rack removed. Bake for about 10 minutes and then remove it with
the wooden paddle.

I have baked this recipe on a pizza pan and it was not good like when I use the stone.

VERSION #2 This version is fast and just as good.

The Starter: Mix, cover and put in a luke warm oven until the yeast starts working:
1/2 Cup warm water
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1/2 Cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt if you want it and aren't adding it on top of the pizza
Add:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
3 1/2 Cups of flour (more if you need it)

Mix until stretchy. Cover with saran and put in a luke warm oven. It only takes a half hour to
rise. Do the same things as in the long version (corn meal, wooden paddle, etc.)

Bake on a stone on the lowest rack of the oven. 450 degrees for 10 mins.

(It takes a little experience to know how much flour to put in it. I only put enough to barely keep it from sticking to my hands. I keep my hands oiled) Let me know if anyone tried this recipe and liked it.

[valvalentino]

That looks like a lot of work, but thanks. I want to try it.