Homemade Pizza Sauce for Grilled Pizza

Yes, its another tomato recipe. I still have tomatoes and the freezer isn’t full yet so I adventured into pizza grilled on my gas BBQ, with of course homemade sauce. My inspiration was the August issue of Sunset. I grew up with my mom using Sunset recipes carefully cut from the magazine, then I used the annual editions and now I go on line to myrecipes.com

The pizza sauce was spicy and delicious and I suggest that you do as I did, and make a double batch so you can freeze half. It takes about 2 hours from start to finish but this slow long cooking creates the caramelized rich flavor that you can’t buy in a jar or can. You can top the pizza with cooked mushrooms & peppers, any thin sliced salami or cooked sausages and of course cheese. Or try adding fresh chopped arugula or caramelized onions. You can use frozen purchased dough or use the Sunset Recipe for dough below. This will produce a very thin crisp crust that works well on the grill.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 large red tomatoes (2 lbs. total), peeled & chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves

Preparation

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until very thick, about 1 1/2 hours.

Stir in fresh oregano after it has thickened.

Grilled pizza video clip, using the Sunset magazine technique. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipes/grilling/video/0,31108,1905054,00.html

Sunsets’ Best Pizza Dough

Time: 3 hours, including rising.

Yield Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
• About 6 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir yeast into 1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110°). Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup oil, the flour, and salt. Mix with dough hook on low speed to blend, then mix on medium speed until dough is very smooth and stretchy, 8 to 10 minutes. Dough will feel tacky.

2. Cover dough and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. Punch down dough and let rise again until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cut 6 pieces of parchment paper, each about 12 in. long. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium heat (about 350°; you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only about 7 seconds).

4. Turn dough out onto a work surface and cut into 6 portions. For each pizza, lay a sheet of parchment on work surface and rub with 1 tsp. oil. Using well-oiled hands, put each dough portion on a parchment sheet. Flatten dough portions, then pat into 9- to 10-in. rounds. If dough starts to shrink, let rest 5 minutes, then pat out again. Let dough stand until puffy, about 15 minutes.

5. Flip a round of dough onto grill, dough side down. Peel off parchment. Put 1 or 2 more dough rounds on grill. Cook, covered, until dough has puffed and grill marks appear underneath, about 3 minutes. Transfer rounds, grilled side up, to baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. (Grilled rounds can stand at room temperature up to 2 hours; reheat grill to continue.)

6. Arrange your choice of pizza toppings (below) on grilled sides of dough. With a wide spatula, return pizzas, 2 or 3 at a time, to grill and cook, covered, until browned and crisp underneath, rotating pizzas once for even cooking, 4 to 6 minutes.

Make ahead: Complete dough through step 1, then chill, covered, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days (dough will double in size, and flavor will develop as it stands).