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I love making things from scratch. I get a funny thrill from being able to create something you could buy at the store in my very own kitchen. I have had pretty good success with bread, brownies, and even cereal. But I haven’t really mastered many sauces. I haven’t found an absolute go-to barbecue sauce, for instance, and certainly hadn’t mastered pasta sauce.
So it’s been a tricky transition to make, since I’m avoiding both soy and corn products. You wouldn’t BELIEVE (or, maybe you would) how many products contain some sort of corn or soy additive. It’s almost ridiculous. Did you know corn syrup has even found its way into some baby formulas!? It’s crazy.
I digress.
We’re talking about sauces here. And when Michael and I had a pair of missionaries over for dinner the other night, we decided to do a build-your-own pizza and salad night. The trick was that we needed sauce. And wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles… we made an AMAZING pizza sauce.
I was inspired having seen a beautiful photo on the blog Cooking for Seven (I LOVE Erica’s blog). I needed a good-sized quantity–I was feeding three hungry males after all–so I adapted the recipe a bit and played with the amounts of ingredients to suit my tastes.
What I ended up with was a great balance of tanginess, sweetness, and spices. BONUS–it’s really easy to keep all the ingredients on hand to make any time. I ended up with about 3 cups–close to what you can get out of a “standard” jar of sauce. I’ll definitely be making this sauce again and again–even when I can eat anything I want. It was just that good.
p.s. Don’t be afraid of the maple syrup. I was a little nervous, but I trusted Erica and I was glad I did. The sauce does NOT taste maple-y by any means. Instead it was just the right amount of sweetness and I LOVED the flavor. I’d start with two tablespoons and then add more as necessary.
- 2 (6oz) cans tomato paste
- 1½c water
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 Tbsp pure maple syrup (depending on how acidic your sauce is)
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir until well combined. Heat through and serve warm. Add additional water if you want a thinner sauce.
- Makes about 3 cups sauce
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks good! I’ve tried making my own pizza sauce a few times and I haven’t been satisfied. I will have to give this a try! Thanks!
Yum! I LOVE a bold, spicy, slightly sweet tasting tomato/spaghetti/pizza sauce. I’d never thought of using maple syrup to acheive that perfect blend however. Thanks for another great recipe, i can’t wait to try it!
I’ve made this before from Ericka’s blog. It is the fastest, easiest recipe ever, and even if you’re short of an ingredient or two, it still tastes great!
I bet it was yummy! One time I had to come up with a spaghetti sauce, and I started throwing things together and it turned out really good. I love to cook, so I guess with so many years of cooking, it just started coming into my mind. Thanks for the recipe, and I’m going to try it. You are always posting such great recipes. Thanks, and give Sophie a hug for me.
I’m a complete cooking newbie and I was wondering if someone could answer my question. Once you have cooked this sauce with the method provided, do you then add it to your uncooked pizza?
Sean, you can do one of two things. 1) pre-bake your pizza crust for 8-10 minutes so it’s set up a little bit (but hasn’t browned at all) and spread the sauce over the pre-baked crust or 2) you can spread it on the raw crust, top with your favorite pizza toppings and then bake it. I usually pre-bake my crust a bit because I like a crisp, browned crust. If you prefer a softer or lighter-colored crust, go ahead and spread it right onto the uncooked pizza dough. Hope that helps!