You can really use anything you want for pizza sauce. People have really specific ideas about what constitutes pizza sauce – some like a heavily spiced version, others prefer essentially pureed tomatoes – and a jar of pasta sauce works just fine too (though I can hear my boss at the pizza shop I worked at in high school gasping in horror as I say that.) This no-cook sauce is on the sweeter and spicier side, and I like it. Note it calls for ounces, not cups, of water. It also calls for parmesan, but of course those avoiding dairy can remove that. If you do, try adding a tablespoon of Tamari in its place.

Sweet & Spicy Pizza Sauce (adapted from Exquisite Pizza Sauce)

Ingredients

Makes enough for 1 12” -14” pizza

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 small clove garlic, minced (or use a teaspoon dried minced garlic)

2 tablespoons sweetener. I used white sugar; the original recipe calls for honey

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine ingredients.

2. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.