Pizza Party!

I had some leftover pizza dough to use up this week, so we invited a couple of my daughter's friends over to make pizzas.  I set up a work station for each child, with small bowls of sauce, cheese, and grilled veggies.  The girls pilled toppings onto a par-baked crust and then we baked each small pizza.  They eagerly waited as the pizzas cooked and then seemed to genuinely enjoy eating their pizzas, feeling proud of their accomplishment.  While I made my dough and sauce from scratch, you could easily buy pre-made dough (trader joes and whole foods both have ready-made crusts and fresh dough to take home, and there are plenty of other brands out there as well) and sauce.  If you would like to try to make the dough and sauce, here's a link to my go-to dough recipe.  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jays-signature-pizza-crust/detail.aspx

And here's how I make easy homemade pizza sauce.  This really is easy.  There are just a few ingredients and it tastes great every time.

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup minced garlic (buy pre-peeled fresh garlic and throw it into your food processor for a quick prep.)
• 2 tablespoons italian seasoning (adjust as needed to taste)
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (adjust as needed to taste)
• **3 large cans (32 oz or so) of peeled canned tomatoes, drained, but save 1 cup liquid aside
• 12 oz tomato paste

Equipment required:

• Sauce pan
• Immersion blender, food processor, or standing blender (**optional - if you do not have this, use crushed tomatoes in the recipe instead of plum)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan over medium heat. 

• Add in garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds (the garlic will become very fragrant - DO NOT burn the garlic.  If you do, throw it out and start over because burnt garlic = bitter sauce.)
• Add italian seasoning and continue stirring for 30 additional seconds
• Pour in drained tomatoes and tomato paste, stir
• Add reserved liquid from tomatoes
• Bring to a low boil
• Add brown sugar, salt, and pepper
• Check for flavor and add more sugar or salt as needed to acheive desired flavor
• Blend the mixture thoroughly until smooth
• Lower heat to simmer and cook until reduced to thick consistency.
• Check for flavor again and adjust seasoning if needed.
• Remove from heat and use immediately or cool and use as needed for pizzas.