Pizza Sauce

The grandchildren are over and they are hungry, or starving as the youngest would say. I would often tease him and say, “I thought your name was Weston!” until, in exasperation, he would clarify his situation. Pizza is always a winner, so I made sure I had the ingredients for a quick pizza version, ready to make ion a blink, Gigi style. As long as I had some Pizza Sauce, I was good to go when the need arose.

Grabbing a bag of Mozzarella cheese, mini pepperonis and other fixings to have on hand at the store, I patiently await their cries of hunger. The Pizza Sauce was made ahead of time and I took out some Naan bread I had stored in the freezer. Small Naan bread  was perfect for the little ones. The larger Naan breads can be cut in half for this purpose too. Other options? English muffins are a great alternative for little hands or you could even purchase pre-made pizza crusts.

My preferred tomato sauce to use is Contadina. It already contains a bit of sea salt, so there’s no need to add more salt, in my opinion. The dried herbs infuse it with a remarkable flavor, or you could use fresh herbs, if available. You would need about a  tablespoon of each fresh herb, finely chopped, as a replacement for the dried herbs

The sauce is quick to make which is great because we all know how impatient hungry kids can be. I just whisk all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally.

Remove pan from the heat. To prepare pre-cooked crust, brush lightly with olive oil and toast briefly. This helps to seal the crust so sauce does not soak into the dough. Spread your choice of bread with a light coating of sauce followed by the toppings of your choice. This is the time you get the little people involved in creating their pizza masterpieces. Chances are, if they make it, they will eat all of it in pride!

After about 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven, you should ready to please the little ones. You can slice these into pizza triangles easily.

Update:

I found King Arthur Baking Company’s Pizza flour at the store recently to try it out. This will take a little preplanning as it requires  at least 12+ hours of rest time to “rise” after mixing and another 45 minutes for the second rise. Knowing my grandson was gonna have a sleepover, I was prepared.

We prepared the dough as described on the package so all we needed to do was prepare the sauce. Not only is this sauce great for pizza, but you could use it as a dip for mozzarella sticks. Yum! My preferred sauce to use is Contadina. It contains a little sea salt, so you certainly don’t need to add any more, in my opinion.

We placed a stoneware pizza pan in the oven then set the oven temp to 500 degrees. On a pastry mat, we pressed and stretched the dough, then slipped it on a piece of parchment paper. Next we scoopied a bit of sauce and spread it out with the back of a spoon leaving a bit of a border. Sprinkle with your desired toppings and bake on preheated stoneware for 8-10 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper and place it on a cutting surface. According to Weston, his pizza was a winner!