The jarred pizza sauces in our country have a funky aftertaste, so one day I embarked on my own and just added a little of this and a palmful of that and came up with a recipe for pizza sauce. I will never go back. It can be made ahead and frozen in pizza-sized batches. It would also made a scrumptious dip served warm with breadsticks.

Serves: 2 large rectangular pizza crusts

Tools:

medium stock pot

hand blender

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can tomato paste

1/4 cup +/- filtered water

1 bunch fresh basil, finely chopped

1 TBSP dried oregano

2 garlic cloves, smashed

fine white sugar, added to taste

salt and pepper to taste

splash of olive oil

For the sauce:

Over medium heat, put a splash olive oil and the garlic in a medium sauce pan. Heat until fragrant. Add tomato paste. Stir in water a little at a time. Continue to add water until consistency of the sauce is slightly thinner than you like your pizza sauce. Add herbs to taste. Add sugar a teaspoon at a time along with salt and pepper. Continue to taste the sauce as it cooks down, adjusting the spices to you liking. Allow sauce to cook down until desired consistency is achieved.

Use immediately with pizza crust for two homemade pizzas. For storage, let cool and store in air-tight containers in refrigerator for one week or freeze for up to three months.