Celebratory Pizza Sauce

Pizza is weirdly important to me. I know, I know, you like pizza, too. But this is my blog, so save it for the comments. So let’s get back to me:

For starters, I appreciate things that are shaped like other things.

Every year for as long as I remember, I’ve eaten Larosa’s pizza with my mom, brother and twin on my (fine, our) birthday. It’s a whole thing. There are candles involved that drip all over the middle of the pizza, and I blow mine out five minutes before Annie gets to blow out hers. On our birth minutes. Which I know is weird, but it’s weird to me that you, as a non-twin, probably don’t even know when your birth minute is. I bet your mother remembers that minute; have you even called her today? You should thank her for what she went through in that minute.

But this year, for the first time in twenty-six years, my birth minute (1:44 p.m., by the way) passed unannounced. It was my first ever mom-less, twin-less, Larosa-less birthday. But it was not a pizza-less birthday. We filled the house with friends and filled the table with ooey, gooey, fresh-from-the-oven pizzas. It's a good way to turn 26. 

Pizza nights make for ideal dinners with friends. You can either make the dough yourself or pick it up for a few bucks at places like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Everybody loves rolling out pizza dough, and you can be topping one pie while another is in the oven. You should also have wine on hand, especially if I'm invited.

And while tomatoes are fresh and flavorful at the markets, now is the perfect time to make your own sauce. It gets messy for a minute (you have to peel a few tomatoes), but it’s a cinch to bring together and totally, 100% worth a few hand washings. Your kitchen will smell amazing, your guests (or family, or just your damn self) will be impressed, and your pizza will taste like summer. And if you add about a teaspoon of extra sugar, it will taste like my birthday.

Pizza Sauce

Confession: I had to make this an extra time to get the measurements written down. The first time around, I just started with tomatoes and added things until it tasted like pizza. This recipe is delicious, but if you’re feeling adventurous, I wholeheartedly support your own pizza-inventing adventures. Just be sure to let me know how it goes!

6 medium tomatoes, peeled* and roughly chopped

4-6 cloves roasted garlic**

4 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper, to taste

In a large stockpot, cook tomatoes over medium-low heat until they start to break down, about 10 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients and puree with immersion blender (alternatively, you can use a conventional blender or mash  with a potato masher for a slightly chunkier sauce that will still be delicious).

Mixture will be quite liquid-y at this point. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat until it reduces into pizza sauce, about 20-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (note: since there is no salt in any of the ingredients, don't be afraid to salt liberally).

* To peel tomatoes: Bring a few inches of water to a low boil. Using the tip of a sharp knife, cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato's skin. Drop tomatoes in the boiling water for about 30 seconds, making sure that they are fully submerged (if the water isn't deep enough, just slowly roll them around). Remove from water and the skin should peel away easily.

** To roast garlic: Set oven to 350. Slice the top off of a head of garlic until most cloves are just exposed. Drizzle with olive oil, making sure that head is well-coated, and wrap in aluminum foil. Roast in oven until cloves are very soft, about 30-40 minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, you should be able to easily squeeze cloves from their skin.

You can use roasted garlic in just about everything, so you might as well throw a few extra heads in there. I have a tendency to just eat any extra cloves plain, but they also keep well in the fridge.