Recipe: Homemade Halal Pizza; Pizza Sauce

We varied a book-recipe and was pleasantly surprise with how delicious this pizza sauce was compared to a more expensive jarred “homemade-recipe”pizza sauce.

Our recipe was so flavorful that we tasted the distinct sauce along with the cheeses and toppings; rather than the jarred sauce being a mere “paste” to keep the cheese and toppings in their place :-/

• Happy Note: The sauce recipe is SO easy. It only took the 10-minutes to make, while the first pizza dough was in the oven cooking, and ready once it was time to top the dough!
• Helpful Tip: Cut vegetables, open your cans and jars with utensils ready, before you put the first dough in the oven. We rushed, and made a mess of the kitchen. While a bit stressful (for me), all they remembered was having tons of fun. I actually forgot how stressful it was when we enjoyed the tasty dinner, but quickly remembered once I walked back into the kitchen. Since I was desperately stuffed, I waited until they were fast asleep before I started to clean.

Halal Pizza & Pizza Sauce Recipe

• Pizza sauce:

In a medium saucepan combine two 8-ounce cans of tomato sauce, one medium-sized finely-chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of fresh basil. Bring to a boil, then simmer.

• Pizza dough:

Store-bought ready-made 1-pounders from the bakery.

One Italian family who I know LOVES to cook, never makes their own pizza dough. When you find a brand or bakery you like, stick with them. They informed me never to waste time and energy experimenting with the dough, it’s the toppings & sauce that makes the pizza. Interestingly, even one Food channel cook recommended the same. An Italian says whenever she goes to Italy and has a good pizza, she simply asks to buy a pound or 2 of their dough and brings in home to cook from. She has never been denied.

* Thin pizza: Sprinkle cornmeal or flour on the baking sheet, we used flour. Put the pizza dough (without letting it rise) in 425 degree oven for 112 minutes or till browned. Spread pizza suace over hot crust, sprinkle toppies, 10-15 minutes or till bubbly.

Our turned out exactly how we like it…not too thin, not too thick like a Sicilan. It was also like a pan pizza.

• Toppings:
  • Cheeses:
    • We are a whole-milk family, so I tried whole-milk mozzarella, chef style low moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese, and a 2-cheese pizza cheese. We liked all four-cheese equally distributed.
  • Pepperoni-substitute: Since the girls never had pepperoni before, and I did not want to try Turkey pepperoni, I bought Bresaola, Dried cured Beef, 3 oz. in the organic section of the grocery store and paid probably the most expensive part of the pizza: $4.99. But, we only used 4 pieces of the 12 pieces. It was absolutely delicious! We sprinkled just a bit of the 2-cheese pizza cheese on top of the Bresaola. Yummy!
  • Olives:
    • If you like black ones: California rip olives, sliced & canned
    • Green ones: Spanish sliced manzanilla olives with minced pimientos (we took out the pimientos)
  • Sliced hot jalapeno peppers, jarred.
  • Fresh green bell pepper. Sliced in slivers. After the Bresaola, this one was everyone’s 2nd-choice topping!

This was a fun, fast dinner to make (timing is critical) with the girls. It was delicious and healthy…and we have left-overs for tomorrow’s lunch.

Enjoy and share your experiences below.

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Tags: homemade pizza, pizza recipes, Recipes

Category: Green Home