Italian Essentials Sardinian Pizza Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• San Marzano tomatoes are great for this recipe; however, I have had good luck with other, local, brands, such as Hunts.
• Baked garlic produces a wonderful earthy flavor to this sauce. If you choose to use regular (not baked) garlic, then use one minced clove; not two.
• What is the sugar for? The sugar aids in removing the bitter taste from the canned tomatoes. My suggestion would be to open the canned tomatoes, and give them a taste, if they have a slightly bitter taste, use the sugar. If they do not, you can leave the sugar out. FYI: The better the brand of tomatoes, the less chance they will be bitter.
• Butter in a pizza sauce? Adding butter to the sauce helps gives it a richer, fuller mouthfeel.
• Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• Add the butter and oil to a saucepan over medium heat.
• When the butter melts, and stops foaming, give the pan a whirl to mix the oil, and butter, then add the onions.
• Cook until they begin to soften, but not brown, about 3 - 4 minutes.
• Add all the dry spices, and stir for an additional minute.
• Add the garlic, and stir until fragrant, another 60 seconds. Then remove from heat.
• Add the onion/spice mixture to a blender, and then add the sauce ingredients.
• Blend until smooth.
• So, why not cook the sauce ingredients with the spices, and onions? Well, I would, if they were fresh, not canned ingredients. However, canned ingredients are cooked before being canned, and they will be cooked again when they are used on a pizza. The more times something is cooked, the less flavor.
• Do a final tasting for proper seasoning, and then store in a non-reactive container (glass), with a lid, in the fridge, until ready to use.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Use anywhere you would use a good pizza sauce. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until just starting to turn golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomato puree, water, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
• Bring tomato sauce to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.