We make pizza about once a week. Normally I make my pizza sauce each time by sauteing onions and garlic, adding diced tomatoes and then sprinkling in the spices and cooking for 30 minutes. All the while getting splatters of red sauce all over my stove and counters. No more! My goal was to can a pizza sauce that I could use straight out of the jar.
Behold my canned pizza sauce:
Sterilize the jars by boiling in the water-bath canner for 10 minutes and pouring boiling water over the lids, keep them upside down on a clean towel until ready to use.
Clean and wash tomatoes. Remove the top part where the tomato attaches to the stem and then quarter. Set aside.
Sautee the onions and garlic in a huge pot with the olive oil until the onions are glassy. Add the quartered tomatoes, oregano, bay, pepper, honey, salt and jalapeno. Simmer for twenty minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and puree the tomatoes either with a stick blender in the pot or batching in a blender or food processor.
Strain the pureed tomatoes through a food mill or colander to remove seeds and peels.
Cook the pulp on the stove uncovered, over medium-high heat stirring frequently until the volume is reduced by half. You should have about 7 quarts.
Add one tablespoon of lemon juice per pint or two tablespoons of lemon juice per quart then fill each jar leaving 1/2 inch head space. Put on the cap and screw band.
Process in a water-bath canner for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.
Making your own pizza sauce takes some time, but it is far superior to anything you can purchase at the grocery store. If you have access to fresh paste tomatoes, give it a try! You will NOT be disappointed!
Combine all ingredients in heavy-bottomed stainless steel kettle.
Bring slowly to a boil, without a lid, and then simmer for 1 hour.
Process all of the soup through a food mill.
Pour remaining slurry into a crock pot.
Set crock pot on “low” and leave the lid off. It might take up to 24 hours to reduce sufficiently.
Cover the crock pot with a wire rack and a cotton cloth to keep dust and bugs out while it is cooking down.
Can the pizza sauce using a water bath canner, 35 minutes in pints or half-pints, or 45 minutes in quarts.
Pizza Thursdays aren’t a takeout night for me. This is a time where a “gourmet” pizza can be thrown together in a short time and I know that I am nourishing my family. This pizza recipe happened when leftovers needed to be eaten and it received rave reviews. The great thing about pizza is that you can add or subtract toppings as you wish.
Preheat oven 425°
Chop onion and saute with butter until translucent.
Stir chicken, pesto, milk/cream and cooked onion together in a bowl and set aside. This mixture should not be runny.
Roll out pizza dough on a pizza stone or pan (make sure there is sprouted flour on stone or pan before rolling out dough). You can prebake the dough in the oven for 5 minutes or proceed to next step.
Layer the dough with the chicken mixture.
Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes until cheese is golden.
Let cool for 5-10 minute before cutting into pizza.
I call this my “meat lovers” pizza. It is delicious and satisfying. The caramelized onions add a lovely sweetness to the savory meat toppings. It gets rave review wherever I serve it!
Prepare your pizza crust and sprinkle the pizza pan with corn meal (adds a pleasant crunch but is optional).
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. and bake the crust for 6 minutes on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Remove from oven. This step will prevent the crust from getting soggy.
Peel and dice the onions. Peel and mince the garlic.
In a cast iron skillet, melt together the butter and olive oil on medium/low heat. Add the vegetables.
Saute the onions and garlic, stirring often, until the onions are very tender and browning nicely. These will be “caramelized” onions.
Move the vegetables to the outside edges of the pan and add the ground beef. Chop it up and cook, stirring together with the onions, until it is all browned, but not crispy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drain the beef and vegetables well on paper towels.
Dice the bacon and fry it in the same pan until it is getting crispy. Drain well on paper towels.
Now it is time to assemble the pizza. The oven needs to be pre-heated at 475 degrees F.
Spread the sauce on the pre-baked crust to within 1 inch of the edge all around.
Distribute the meat toppings evenly all over the sauce.
Spread the shredded mozzarella all over the toppings.
Bake until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown a little. Start with 8 minutes in the oven and watch it carefully. Don’t let it bake until the cheese is brown all over… just until it begins to brown.
Remove from oven and cut into slices with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then serve!
This pizza may be assembled, carefully wrapped and frozen for later use. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.
These are pretty simple to throw together, yet taste delicious, especially dipped in extra barbecue sauce!
Prepare pizza dough and let sour according to directions. When ready to bake, separate dough into 8 balls and roll each one into a 6″ circle. Spread bottom half of each circle with at least 1 T. each of barbecue sauce, chicken, pineapple, and bacon. Top with 1/4 or more shredded cheese, and then fold top half over, folding up edges to seal. Prick with a fork and bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve with extra barbecue sauce and a big salad!
A flaky, biscuit crust topped with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, and cheese. It’s one of our family’s favorite “breakfast for dinner” meals. It’s also a fun change from regular homemade pizza!
Roll out the biscuit dough on a pizza pan or baking stone all the way to the edges. Put in the oven and bake for 8 minutes at 450 F.
While the crust is baking, crumble and cook sausage in a skillet. Add butter to the skillet and stir until melted. (If sausage is especially greasy, reduce or even omit the butter.) Add flour and stir until liquid is mostly absorbed and the meat coated. Add in milk a little at a time while stirring. Still stirring, bring to a boil and let the mixture simmer until you have a thick gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the gravy over the top of the biscuit crust and scramble 2 eggs in the skillet. Add the scrambled eggs to the top of the pizza and cover with cheese. Bake in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.
Abundance is the word of the season. Oh, the variety of in-season vegetables during summertime! Then, there is the squash. So. Many. Squashes. And tomatoes. The glorious onslaught of ‘maters. But when you get about 50 pounds of organic produce in your CSA box each week and you still have ten pounds left the day before the next box arrives and your storage space is laughable… Ya gotta find a way to use up a lot of veggies all at once. Well here you go, then. And, because I am philosophically opposed to using the oven when it’s 100+ degrees outside, this is a stovetop only recipe.
Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add sausage, squashes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and reserve in a bowl.
Now it’s time for the crust, which is basically potato pancakes. Mix grated potatoes and onions, eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Because less dirty pans is more, in the same pan you sauteed the squash mixture, (your biggest cast iron skillet is the best choice), heat some more olive oil, about a tablespoon or two, and press potato mixture into the bottom. Cook on med/high heat for 4-5 minutes. Cut in four sections and flip.
Turn heat to medium. Spread pizza sauce (see below for a recipe) over potatoes. Sprinkle squash mixture, then sliced tomatoes and optional basil, then cheese. Cover and cook for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Or, if you don’t mind turning on the broiler, place covered pan in broiler for 5 minutes.
Here’s a simple pizza sauce recipe my mom taught me (you’ll probably only use half of this recipe; it can cover up to two normal pizzas):
Pizza Sauce
15 oz. tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon each: minced garlic (1 clove), crushed basil and oregano
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
Mix all ingredients and use.
Missing pizza on your grain-free diet? This is a great substitute!
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a sheet pan (must have edges on it!) with parchment paper - this gets really messy and hard to clean up otherwise!
Mix the seasonings together.
Knead the seasonings into the meat
Dump the meat mix onto the pan and spread it evenly to cover all the corners.
Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Since the meat is spread so thin, it will cook quickly. While it bakes, prep your toppings and make your sauce.
Remove it when the timer goes off. Drain the grease from the pan. We like fat, but there is always a huge amount. The meat shrinks quite a bit.
Turn on the broiler in the oven, and top your pizza while you wait.
Place under the broiler. Keep an eye on it, but mine is ready in about 5 minutes.
Crusty parmigiano-reggiano cheese give this yummy cheesy pizza its “crust”. Getting the timing right and keeping the parmigiano-reggiano cheese from sticking is the hardest part of this recipe, but the end result is well worth the effort. The crunchy parmigiano-reggiano “crust” topped with melted mozzarella, sauce and toppings of choice is great as a snack or quick lunch.
Warm a very well-seasoned cast iron pan over medium heat. Put the parmigiano-reggiano into a small mixing bowl and flip over the bowl onto the hot pan to dump the cheese and keep it circular. Lift the bowl and even out the cheese a bit.
When the parmigiano-reggiano is mostly melted, put some grated mozerella on top and carefully spread on some of your finely diced toppings.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Use your spatula to scrape around under the edge of your pizza as it’s cooking. Keep working your way around, getting your spatula further and further under the pizza as it cooks. This is to keep the crust from sticking too badly. It can take 3-5 minutes to get the crust done. It should smell cooked and look brown on the underside.
When you can slide your spatula all the way under the pizza, carefully spoon on some sauce. Allow to warm about a minute, then slide the floppy pizza on a cutting board or plate to cool.
Allow the crustless pizza to cool for a few minutes to solidify the cheese. Slice and enjoy!
This is how I make my pizza. What do you like on yours?
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Right away, grease a pizza stone with olive oil or melted coconut oil and sprinkle with salt and garlic powder.
Then grease your hands with olive oil and scoop out the dough from the bowl where it was rising. The top will have dried out slightly, and you’ll want to flip that top side face down on the hot pizza stone (where it’s going to crust anyways). Spread out the dough, pushing from the middle out, and making the edges an inch or so higher than the center so the sauce and cheese don’t run off.
Next, spread some tomato sauce.
Next, add your spices. I like to use basil (fresh if I have it), italian seasoning, and oregano.
Then add shredded mozarella cheese.
I sprinkle on some lemon pepper right on top of the cheese.
Then, add toppings. The kids prefer pineapple, and I like broccoli.
Bake in the oven for 18 minutes. Let sit 5-7 minutes before slicing, so the cheese and sauce won’t run all over the place. Enjoy!