The DIY Pantry (36 page)

Having an all-natural pizza sauce on hand makes pulling together a pizza quickly a breeze. If you freeze it, consider freezing it in small batches so that you only have to thaw enough for one pizza at a time.

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat; then sauté the garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
   
2. Add dried herbs and stir; then pour in the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the sugar and the salt over the sauce.
   
3. Reduce temperature to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
   
4. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
   

Tomatoes are great summer crops! They are delightful served fresh in a salad or sandwiched between fresh basil and mozzarella in the typical Caprese style. They’re also fantastic for cooking all year round. They keep their flavor well and allow you to make big batches of tomato sauce to freeze, which you can then thaw through the winter for tomato soup or any recipe that calls for tomato sauce or tomato paste.

1. Quarter tomatoes and place in a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot. You may blanch and peel the tomatoes first if you’d like, but it’s much quicker and yields a deeper, richer sauce to leave the skins on. Add salt if desired—I prefer to skip the salt now to give greater variety later. I have found if I add the salt now and then add salt again when I make the pasta sauce or soup, it’s overpowering.
   
2. Add a few tablespoons of water, cover, and heat over medium heat for 15–20 minutes, until the tomatoes start to really release their juices. Remove the cover and decrease heat to medium-low. Simmer gently for 3–4 hours, stirring occasionally toward the end to make sure the tomatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
   
3. Remove the pan from the heat when the sauce is the desired consistency. Process through a food mill to make it smooth. If you don’t have a food mill, the mixture can be pressed through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon as well, but it will take much longer. Freeze the sauce and compost the leftover skins. The sauce will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
   

No kitchen is complete without a bottle of this ubiquitous salty, savory sauce on hand!