Homemade Chicago-style Pizza Sauce

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This whole month, I’ve been participating in “Frugal February”.  It’s too easy to feel exhausted after work and go out for dinner or drop $100 at Target because I’m bored – so I decided that at least for a month of February, I would make changes to the way I spend money and what I spend money on.  For a simple example, on days when I might have ordered a pizza I’ve been making a pizza from scratch.  There aren’t any amazing pizza places where I live, so this hasn’t been much of a sacrifice.  The pizza I make at home is way better than any pizza I could have delivered.

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Hand shredding mozzarella is easy enough.  For pizza dough, I’ve actually been using the same dough as for my apple pie cinnamon rolls.  That sounds pretty strange, I know!  But it’s whole wheat, comes together so quickly, and tastes amazing.  A good pizza sauce was harder to come by.  Sure, I could buy it in a jar but it tastes more or less the same as spaghetti sauce to me – not appealing.  I like my sauce a little chunky, almost like a Chicago style (even if I don’t like my crust very thick).  This sauce is full of tomatoes and a variety of seasonings, the way I think sauce should be.  This recipe makes enough sauce for a thick layer on a large pizza (or a medium amount of sauce on 2 smaller pizzas).

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Homemade Chicago-style Pizza Sauce
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8
 

Ingredients
  • 2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • heaping ¼ tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp light balsamic vinaigrette (or 2 tsp balsamic vinegar + 1 tsp sugar)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan.
  2. Bring to boil and lower heat slightly. Simmer, stirring often, until tomatoes have released a good amount of liquid and most of the liquid has evaporated off and you’re left with a chunky pizza sauce (20 – 30 minutes). Taste and add more vinegar, sugar, salt or other ingredients to taste.

Notes
If your sauce still has too much liquid, use a slotted spoon to transfer to the crust.

Nutrition Information
Calories: 25 Fat: <1g Carbohydrates: 6g Fiber: 2g Protein: 1g