Oven Roasted Pizza Sauce

Mondays can be a little rough.

If you are like me, you have put things around the house on the back burner all weekend long, in order to enjoy time with your family.  Now the house is a little dusty, and the clothes are piling up.  In moments like these, it would be so easy to pick-up some fast food on the way home, but is that REALLY what you want to do? 

No, I didn't think so.

Here, let me help you out.

Here is the recipe for my sweet and robust homemade, oven-roasted pizza sauce that will spruce up a simple Monday night meal, and is simple enough no one will believe you made it from scratch. 

Let's get started.

Oven Roasted Pizza Sauce:

*Prep Time:  5 min.  * Cook Time: 40 minutes *Difficulty:  Easy *Servings: 1 quart of sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. of medium tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tbsp. onion powder
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. fresh chopped basil (1 tbsp. dried)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Tools:

• Baking dish
• Chef's Knife
• Potato masher

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.

To begin, you will quarter the tomatoes and place them in a baking dish.

Now chop the basil and sprinkle over the tomatoes.

After the basil, finely mince your garlic and sprinkle that over the tomatoes.

Season with salt...

Pepper...

Onion powder...

Brown sugar...

and olive oil.

Mix together with your hands and...

Place in a 450 degree oven.

Allow the tomatoes to roast for 20 minutes, then take them out of the oven.

Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes.

It will look a little something like this.

Return to the oven and roast for another 20 minutes.

After 20 more minutes, remove from the oven and the sauce is ready to use.

What I love about this homemade sauce is that it is not only bold and robust, but it's a little sweet as well.  The basil gives it a layer of freshness that says "This is not from a jar, this is homemade."

For a quick Monday night meal, use this sauce on a French loaf or hoagie bun.  Top it with some pepperoni and cheese, and place back in the 450 degree oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly brown.  I promise you will get no complaints. 

So this Monday night, don't stress over what you are going to make for dinner, and don't sacrifice fresh food for a drive through.  Give this sauce a try and whip up some French bread pizza because this is what a stress-free Monday night meal should look like! 

As always...

Happy Reading, Happy Eating, and Happy Living,

~The Kitchen Wife~