Homemade pizza sauce

Tonight is going to be homemade pizza for dinner! I like making my own dough, but this time I bought a ball of pizza dough from the store cuz it was barely $1 and that saves me the effort of making it! I had the dough in the freezer, so last night I pulled it out and stuck it in the fridge to thaw. This morning it seemed like it was already pretty much thawed, hooray! (I always worry about things not thawing enough in time.)

Pizza sauce is a big deal to me. It'll pretty much make or break a pizza for me. Especially using store bought dough that's probably very basic and not super flavorful. The last several times I made pizza, I used this basic pizza sauce recipe from food network, and I really liked it. Last time I made it though, I had to make a few tweaks because it calls for oregano and I had just run out and forgot to buy more. So I substituted half and half italian seasoning and thyme, and loved how it turned out! I'm trying my tweaked version again tonight (on purpose this time, haha!) and if I really like my re-creation, it just might be my new standard! So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 can (28-ounces) tomatoes (whole, diced, or crushed, depending on how chunky you want your sauce)


• 1 small white onion, finely diced


• 1-2 cloves garlic (I like garlic)


• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme


• 1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning


• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional - I like my sauce a little sweet)


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 T olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Saute onions for a couple minutes, mince garlic and add to onions. Saute for another minute. Add tomatoes and other spices. Mix well, and cover. Simmer at least 15 minutes until flavors are well blended, stirring often.

Makes about 3 cups of sauce... enough for 2-4 pizzas depending on how big & how saucy you like them! Spread sauce on dough, add your favorite toppings (and lots of cheese!), bake, and enjoy! I will probably bake the dough for a couple minutes before loading up the toppings. Makes it much easier to get it in and out of the oven, at least in my kitchen!

Yum! I am drooling in anticipation! How long until dinner??