As Promised: Pizza Sauce

Stop the presses: pizza is not Italian.

Okay, well it really depends on how you define pizza.  The baking of flatbreads dates back to 500 BC in the Middle East, but these didn't have toppings.  The Greeks were actually the first to dress their bread with various toppings such as oils, herbs, and cheese (called plakountos).  It is also noteworthy that Naples, the birthplace of modern pizza, was founded by the Greeks (called Neopolis).

"The culture of poverty and hunger in Italy created a folk cuisine in which a few ingredients were skillfully blended to create a variety of tastes."

-Carol Helstosky, Pizza: a Global History

Pizza was developed as an easy and affordable way to get nutrition.  Eaten primarily by peasants, pizza was regarded as an unrefined dish.  It hardly had the esteem we give it today where people make pilgrimages to Naples in order to taste "authentic" pizza.

The authentic pie we think of today is the Margherita, named in honor of Queen Margherita in the late 1800s.  The pie was fashioned to resemble the Italian flag (red, white, and green).  Once it came to America, we made it our own.  Between Brooklyn and Chicago, we truly are a (Pizza) Nation, divided.

So, as I promised, here is the recipe for my favorite pizza sauce.

Ingredients

6 oz. tomato paste

1/4 cup water

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (or to taste...I like my sauce spicy!)

Stir together the tomato paste and water.  Add the garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Let the sauce sit so that the herbs can really set in.

Be wary in choosing your ingredients.  Fresh tomato is always preferable to tomato paste, but for a lack of great tomatoes, I turned to the latter.  I used Cento Tomato Paste as it was the only paste whose ingredients were purely tomato.  Everything else had an additive, so be sure to read what you're buying especially since some of the tomato pastes are sold pre-seasoned!

Sources: Passion-4-Pizza, Wikipedia, Pizza: a Global History
Photo Credit: Scott Bauer

The Hunger Games: Peeta's Pita Pizza

In honor of this week's cinematic release of the Hunger Games, I've prepared a fun spin on this traditional Italian dish.

You'll need your favorite pita (I grabbed whole wheat), pizza sauce (I'll post my recipe in another post -- look out for it!) and your cheese of choice (I used part-skim Mozzarella).  For my vegan and lactose intolerant readers, you can substitute Soy Mozzarella.  It cooks the same and even tastes pretty similar.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Place your pita on the parchment paper.  Add your sauce to the middle of the bread and work it out toward the edge.  Do not go all the way to the end or you won't be able to pick it up!  Top with your shredded cheese.  Pop it in the oven for 7 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!