I started to put together the dougthecook homemade pizza sauce when it came to me. The sauce is slightly tangy so I added 1/4 of a carrot, minced. The improvement was pleasant indeed. The carrot adds a slight sweetness but does not have any carrot taste whatsoever. Secret ingredient?
dtc
I made a batch of dougthecook pizza dough the other day. As usual, I relied on the breadmaker to do the kneading. But, before I loaded up the breadmaker pan, I mixed the flour and cornmeal together and sifted them.
Not that any lumps existed but I wanted to insure that the flour was aerated. As flour travels from factory to your home it is compressed by settling among other things. Aerating the flour makes it lighter per cup (4 oz vs 5 oz packed) and overall mixing improves.
The result was no pockets of flour or cornmeal and a more consistent dough. Though this is empirical evidence I’ll add this step to the dougthecook pizza dough.
dtc
Next time I make pizza I’m going to sift together the dry ingredients. This will help the ingredients get fully moistened and should result in a fluffier crust. Also, sifting will prevent chunks of a dry ingredient from happening – like biting into the crust and finding a pocket of flour. If you do not have a sifter you can use a wire whisk to “sift” the flour.
Sifted flour weighs 4 oz to a cup while settled flour weighs about 5 oz – that is a 20% difference in volume!. Settling occurs during shipping to the store. Sifting aerates the flour back to its wanted state. When measuring flour it should always be done by weight, not by volume.
Doug
I have decided to make a web area dedicated to pizza. You will find everything you need to know about making pizza at home. No pizza stone will be left unturned.
dtc
This pizza sauce below was started with Emeril Lagasse in a Chicago-style deep dish pizza. The sauce turned out great and has an important improvement in making sauce: instead of adding spices after putting the tomatoes et al in the pan, add the spices to the hot oil for about several seconds. This brings out the fragrance and robustness of the spices. I have to say it made the sauce very smooth tasting.
2 TBL olive oil
1 TBL chopped fresh garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp dried basil (2 tsp fresh)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (1 tsp fresh)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
1 28-oz can plum (Roma) tomatoes petite diced (or 2 cups fresh)
1 TBL dry red wine
1 tsp sugar
Heat oil on medium. Add garlic and cook, stirring often for 15 seconds. Add herbs, seeds, salt, and peppers to the oil and cook for 30 seconds, stirring often. Add tomatoes, wine, and sugar and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened (20 to 30 minutes). Let cool before using. Tastes better the second day.
Doug
This pizza sauce is easy to make and tastes good – a great combination!
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBL olive oil
1 can (16 oz) tomato sauce – use a good brand. I used Hunt’s
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 TBL fresh basil, finely chopped (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent (but not brown, so stir frequently. Takes about 5 minutes). Add tomato sauce then rest of ingredients. Stir well and simmer for 20 minutes, covered (or else it will spatter).
I have replace the garlic clove and salt with 1/2 tsp of garlic salt with good success; and it’s even faster to make!
Many times pizza sauces call for tomato paste – presumably to thicken them up. The brands I have tried have a tinny taste to them. And I found out they are not crucial for a good pizza sauce.
This pizza dough is an updated version of an earlier one. Sugar has been added for the yeast feast and the flour increased by 1/4 cup since the dough has turned out sticky the times I made it. I made this last night and it turned out great.
1 cup warm water (105 – 115 F)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 T corn oil
2 3/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 pkg yeast (1/4 oz or 2 1/4 tsp)
For bread maker:
Put in liquids first, then solids then yeast. (The list is in correct order). I swirl the breadmaker container around after adding the water, sugar, salt, and corn oil so they distribute. Mix on dough setting.
Put dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes before making the pizza.
This recipe made enough for two 9 inch pizzas. Brush the dough with oil before putting on the sauce/toppings to prevent the sauce from soaking in.
The pizza was cooked on the middle lower rack at 400 F for 20 minutes (until cheese was slightly brown and crust brown).
Pizza dough freezes well so it pays to make a large batch. Divide up the dough into two balls (most recipes make enough dough for two pizzas) and flatten the ball to be frozen. Cover with plastic wrap then aluminum foil and into the freezer it goes.
Fresh pizza dough can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days though the yeast starts to ferment after a 1/2 day and the pizza dough will smell like beer. Form the dough into a small patty and cover it lightly with olive oil to prevent skinning.
Doug
Pizza Sauce Recipe #4
16 ounce (2 cups) petite diced tomatoes
1 T sugar
1 1/2 T dried oregano (or 2 T fresh, chopped)
2 tsp parsley flakes (or 4 teaspoons fresh, chopped)
1 1/2 tsp basil (or 1 T fresh, chopped)
1/2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Combine pizza sauce ingredients and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
This recipe has no tomato paste which is why it taste better thank recipe #3. The canned tomato paste added a slightly offensive taste. This recipe is very fresh tasting. I cannot wait to try it with garden fresh Romas in July.
Doug
I made this last night: whoa. Delicious. I used pizza dough from part IX and cooked it in an iron skillet in the oven at 400 degrees F. The sauce is pretty thick.
Pizza Sauce Recipe #3
16 ounce (2 cups) petite diced tomatoes
3 ounce tomato paste (1/2 of normal 6oz tomato paste can)
1 T sugar
1 1/2 T dried oregano (or 2 T fresh, chopped)
2 tsp parsley flakes (or 4 teaspoons fresh, chopped)
1 1/2 tsp basil (or 1 T fresh, chopped)
1/2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Combine pizza sauce ingredients and simmer 15 minutes. I reduced it until the sauce was as thick as molasses. The sauce was pretty chunky, which I like. If a thinner sauce is wanted, puree the entire finished product in a blender. Better taste is attained if left to sit overnight in the refrigerator.
Doug