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Pizza Sauce (and Del Monte Diced Tomatoes)

November 19, 2012 in sauce

One of the meals my kids and I look forward to most is homemade pizza. They like it because they’re kids and well, kids like pizza. I like it because it is fast and easy, and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.

Del Monte Diced Tomatoes are perfect for pizza night, especially if you are like me and don’t particularly like canned pizza sauce. The Del Monte tomatoes are great tasting and the chunks of tomatoes make you feel like you made the pizza from a bunch of fresh tomatoes.

And Del Monte canned Tomatoes contain the same essential nutrients as fresh ones, with no artificial colors or flavors. They are packed at the peak of ripeness and almost 90% are canned the same day to lock in nutrients and flavor. They are also grown in the best regions for a consistently high-quality product, and all are grown in the United States.

I make this pizza sauce at least a couple times a month. I almost always have a mason jar full of the stuff in my fridge because my oldest likes to make cheese pizzas on tortillas so having it on hand makes it really easy to whip up a fast lunch or dinner for him.

One of the great things about this sauce is how versatile it is. I like my sauce chunky but if you prefer a smooth sauce, just put it in the blender after you are done cooking it (carefully – it will be HOT) and puree it.

It tastes great and like I said, I really enjoy the chunky sauce. My favorite pizza to order is one with fresh, sliced tomatoes on top and this tastes like that without me having to run out to buy fresh tomatoes. I love that the Del Monte tomatoes are able to mimic fresh tomatoes so well.

It is super easy to make too. All you do is cook a couple cans of the Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with some herbs and spices! You just let that simmer for about 15 minutes and then you have a homemade pizza sauce ready to go!

Interested in learning more about Del Monte? Like them on Facebook!

Giveaway time!!


I have a $100 Visa gift card to give away, courtesy of Del Monte and BlogHer!

All you have to do to enter for a chance to win is answer this in a comment: Tell us about meals that make you feel good & are good for you.


No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post “b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry”"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post” c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 11/19/2012 – 12/21/2012 Be sure to visit Del Monte’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

2 (14.5 ounce) cans of Del Monte Diced Tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. While it's cooking, occasionally use the back of a wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes. Use immediately once done cooking or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
http://fakeginger.com/2012/11/19/pizza-sauce-and-del-monte-diced-tomatoes/

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Layered Pizza Dip

August 31, 2012 in appetizer

This weekend is the best weekend of the year. No, my husband is not coming home. More important y’all.

College football, obviously.

It’s kind of sad since my husband isn’t home and all but lucky for him, his absence has made me more sympathetic to the Alabama cause. See, he is an Alabama fan and I am an LSU fan and since those 2 are typically the best teams, college football discussions get pretty heated. Last year he was in the field during the Alabama/LSU game so I did this to the baby and sent him pictures:

Amazingly, we are still married.

Like I said though, somehow I’m becoming more of an Alabama fan without him here to harass. Last week I impulse bought a houndstooth scarf and didn’t even realize what I’d done until I was out in the parking lot. Something is obviously very wrong with me and I hope to get over whatever sickness this is before he comes home.

But anyway, this is also my favorite time of year because I get to make (and blog!) a ton of fun appetizers! So get excited! Lots of football food coming your way in the coming months!

This is a real simple appetizer that is always a crowd-pleaser. It’s a dip that’s layered with onion and chive cream cheese, pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese. You can, of course, add whatever you like – peppers, mushrooms, Parmesan, sausage, pretty much anything goes!

One last thing: y’all remember when I did that leftover makeover? Well BlogHer has a fabulous Pinterest board filled with leftover makeovers (including mine!) that you should definitely check out. Lots of good things happening over there! Go find dinner inspiration!

One year ago: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Two years ago: Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

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Layered Pizza Dip

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) container cream cheese with chives and onions
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup small pepperoni (or big ones, diced)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In an ungreased 9-inch pie plate or similar dish, layer all ingredients in order listed.
  3. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and dip is bubbly.
  4. Serve hot with crackers, bagel chips, or tiny toast pieces!
http://fakeginger.com/2012/08/31/layered-pizza-dip/

 

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S’mores Pizza

August 8, 2012 in cookie

You remember that time I made that list of things I wanted to accomplish and then procrastinated about actually doing it? Oh… which time, you ask? You smartypants, you! I mean the most recent time.

One of the things I wanted to do was start a Friday night homemade pizza and a movie tradition. I won’t lie, I have completely failed at it but I swear I tried. Every time I tried to make a pizza it was a huge flop. We’re talking straight-into-the-trashcan kind of flops. Then I realized that our grocery store does $5 take-and-bakes on Friday and it was like a sign from up above that I didn’t need to make anymore awful pizzas.

But this past week I decided I was going to make a pizza. This one to be exact. I bought a Pillsbury crust because I didn’t want to risk anything going wrong. Then, OF COURSE, disaster struck.

Sometime in the 5 minutes it took for us to get from the grocery store to the house, the dang pizza can exploded. W! T! F!

But don’t worry, I was going to use that crust even thought it now had all kinds of fun cooties on it from exploding inside a Walmart bag. I left it in a ball in my fridge for a couple hours and then the dang thing refused to roll out. I rolled and I rolled and I rolled but it just stayed little stupid dough ball.

Sigh.

So I ended up making a crust. A crust that looked so perfect and delicious. Until I, you know, tried to get it off the pan and it refused to move.

I am SO DONE with pizza. SO DONE y’all. I don’t know if it’s me or the oven or Colorado or what but holy cow, I am ooooooover it.

I’m only making pizza that starts with a cookie dough crust from now on.

ALSO! Friday is National S’mores Day! Woot woot! MAKE THIS. This is easily one of my favorite things I’ve made months!

Two years ago: Peach Cream Cheese Tart
Four years ago: Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas

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S’mores Pizza

adapted from Pillsbury

Ingredients

1 16-ounce package of chocolate chip cookie ough
1 cup small pieces graham crackers
½ cup small pieces milk chocolate candy bars
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. (Optional: trace a circle onto the parchment, flip so the circle is facing the baking sheet. You should still be able to see what you drew.)
  2. Use your hands to form the cookie dough into a large circle, about ¼” thick.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the cookie is a deep golden and the center is no longer gooey. Remove from oven. Turn on your broiler and move an over rack up to the top if necessary.
  4. Sprinkle graham crackers evenly over the cookie. Top with chocolate pieces and marshmallows.
  5. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the marshmallows are toasted.
  6. Serve warm! Slice it like a pizza!
http://fakeginger.com/2012/08/08/smores-pizza/

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Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

May 30, 2012 in spon

Years ago one of the cheese companies put out a magazine ad that featured a giant piece of ooey gooey cheesy pizza with the words “Because no one ever drooled over the crust” above it. I was outraged. I ripped the page out of the magazine and shoved it in my husband’s face so that he could be outraged with me.

In my world, the crust is the pizza. I don’t really care what’s on the pizza as long as the crust is whatever variety I happen to prefer that day. Thin, crispy has been my usual order for years but lately I’m digging the thick, doughy ones which is why I chose this Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza recipe from Red Star Yeast to share with y’all.

Up until this recipe, my experience with deep-dish has been limited to what I’ve seen on TV so I expected it to be an all-day project with lots of rise time and an hour in the oven. But it’s not at all! The dough has 2 rests, both 15 minutes, and the pizza only has to spend 25 minutes in the oven before it’s ready to slice and serve! Dare I say that it was easier and faster than a regular pizza?

You can mix the toppings up as you please but I thought the sausage, mushroom, pepper, and onion including in the recipe was a great, classic choice.

I do recommend that you watch the cheese closely in the last 10 minutes or so. You may need to put some foil over it if it starts to burn. Or you could put the cheese under the sauce and toppings!

(For the record my husband was not outraged. In fact, his reaction was, “Oh. You want to order pizza? Mmmkay.”)

One year ago: Coconut Cream Flan
Three years ago: Pita Chips

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Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Ingredients

For the dough:
1¼ cups water (heated to 120-130F)
3 tablespoons oil
3¼ cups flour
1½ teaspoons salt
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
For the pizza sauce:
8-ounce can tomato sauce
6-ounce can tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
1 teaspoon parsley flakes (or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped)
¾ teaspoon dried basil (or 1½ tablespoons fresh, chopped)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Toppings:
1 pound pork sausage
1 cup sliced mushrooms
⅓ cup diced green pepper
¼ cup chopped onion
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella

Instructions

    To make the dough:
  1. In large mixing bowl, combine 1½ cups flour, yeast and salt; mix well. Add water and oil to flour mixture. Mix by hand until almost smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface 3 to 4 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover dough; let rest 15 minutes.
    2. To make the pizza sauce:
  2. Combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan and simmer 10-15 minutes.
    3. To prepare the toppings:
  3. Brown sausage in a large frying pan; drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
    4. To assemble pizza:
  4. Preheat oven to 425F.
  5. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 16-inch circle. Place in an oiled 14-inch round deep-dish pizza pan, pushing dough halfway up sides of pan. (The pizza could also be rolled to a 15 x 11-inch rectangle and placed in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.) Cover; let rise in warm place until puffy, about 15 minutes.
  6. Spread pizza sauce over dough. Sprinkle sausage over sauce; arrange mushrooms, green pepper and onion over sausage. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven until edge is crisp and golden brown and cheese is melted.
http://fakeginger.com/2012/05/30/chicago-style-deep-dish-pizza/

This post was sponsored by Red Star Yeast but all opinions are my own. 

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Chicken Ranch Pizza

January 25, 2012 in chicken

Pizza night is always a favorite around here. The boys love is because, well, boys just love pizza! I love it because it’s fast and easy and no one whines about having to finish what’s on their plate. I have been trying to branch out for the usual pepperoni and definitely found a winner in this one!

Instead of a red sauce, this pizza uses ranch dressing with a good bit of garlic mixed in. I know ranch on pizza doesn’t sound very appealing but I promise it’s really good with the chicken and the fresh tomatoes that are added on top. And the combination of mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan is just perfect!

It’s definitely going to become a regular in our pizza rotation!

(I served the Cheesy Breadsticks with it! They were great together!)

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Chicken Ranch Pizza

Ingredients

1 pizza crust, homemade or store-bought
For the sauce:
⅔ cup Ranch dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
For the toppings:
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced thinly
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
¼ cup green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
  2. Butter or grease a 16-inch round pizza pan. Stretch pizza dough to fit pan.
  3. In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing and minced garlic. Spread the sauce mixture over the crust.
  4. In a medium bowl, toss together the mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan cheeses. Spread about half of the cheese mixture over the sauce.
  5. Evenly spread the chicken, tomatoes, and green onions over the pizza. Top with the remaining cheese.
  6. Bake pizza for 12-15 minutes. Check pizza after 10 minutes, and continue to check every few minutes until top is browned and cheese is bubbly.
  7. Remove pizza from oven, allow to cool slightly, and slice. Serve hot and enjoy!
http://fakeginger.com/2012/01/25/chicken-ranch-pizza/

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