No-Cook Pizza Sauce (that will rock your world!)

by Jill Boman

I’ve been making this no-cook pizza sauce for years not only because it’s so easy but because it is truly the most flavorful pizza sauce I’ve ever had. Several people have told me mine is the best homemade pizza they’ve tasted and this sauce is the reason: It’s the only “unique” thing about my pizza. I’ve used several crust recipes and mixes and topped it many different ways, but this is always my sauce.

Raw garlic has a different flavor than cooked, and that flavor is carried further by the olive oil (real olive oil really picks up garlic flavor). Of course all the toppings are cooked on the pizza itself, but the sauce gets minimally cooked that way, leaving the flavor very bright. Everything about this pizza sauce really “pops”. It literally takes minutes to mix up in a bowl plus it’s less expensive and tastes much better than any pizza sauce you can buy. You'll thank yourself for trying this recipe!

For your pizza crust, you could use Kelly's pizza dough recipe, try this yummy sourdough pizza crust, or see my gluten-free preference below. Also, it could be a meatless meal or made with your favorite meat toppings — pizza is pretty versatile. 🙂

No-Cook Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1 7-ounce jar or 6-ounce can organic tomato paste (not sauce)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed or very finely minced
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon dried oregano* (I like lots)
1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon organic coconut sugar, sucanut or brown sugar (depending on how sweet your tomato paste is)
1 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1-2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or even a little more if you have really great olive oil — click here for where I get real olive oil with a discount, because did you know that the stuff in the store is often cut with cheaper heart-killer vegetable oils?!)
Cold or room temperature water to thin to desired consistency

Instructions:

Combine everything in a medium size bowl except the water. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings, garlic, and sugar. (Don't worry if the sauce appears too “oily” at this point–it all comes together and the olive oil and garlic work together as a flavor team!) When the flavor knocks your socks off, begin adding water a little at a time, stirring, until the consistency is what you want. I generally will add between 1/4 and 1/2 cup water. This sauce has a concentrated flavor and I think keeping it a little on the thick side helps contribute to that.

About the herbs…

*You may have noticed the only herb listed is oregano. That is because oregano is the quintessential pizza herb and for this sauce, I prefer oregano to stand on its own. Try it once with only oregano and see if you agree. If not, add basil, marjoram, or Italian seasoning next time.

Pizza Crust Options:

The last time I made pizza I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust mix (pictured below) and it was delicious. Follow the directions exactly, including using wet hands to handle the dough. It’s sticky! I will say though, that the best pizza crust I've ever had was sourdough–there's something magical about sourdough that elevates everything to a higher level. Here's a great recipe for sourdough pizza crust that doesn't even require kneading. (And here's Kelly's traditional pizza crust recipe.)

Try it with pesto!

Also, most years I grow lots of basil in my back yard so that I have enough to make loads of pesto to freeze (here's how I do it plus my recipe). When I have pesto in the freezer (which is most of the time), I usually will cover half the pizza crust with this pizza sauce and the other half with defrosted pesto. If you haven’t tried pesto for pizza sauce, that’s another one you’ll thank yourself for once you’ve tried it!

Here's what my pizza looked like after I spread both this sauce and my defrosted pesto on it (try not to drool!):

Here are a few more drool-worthy pics of my pizza components plus the finished product: Amazing local grass-fed Italian beef sausage, smoked mozzarella from local, grass-fed cows (this stuff is magical on pizza), all assembled (before baking), and my first bite, which is a little blurry!