Pantry Meal #3: Portland Pie Co.'s Shipyard Pizza

My husband loves pizza. No, seriously he is obsessed. He could eat it every night if it is cooked the way he likes it; light crust,  saucy, sprinkled with oregano, garlic and not too much cheese. In our last house our neighbor would make him pies after a night out, and Dave would repeatedly tell him he missed his calling! Now that we aren't right across the street anymore the pizza cook offs have waned and the responsibility to make perfect pizza is on my shoulders.

While I love making pizza at home, my results can be hit or miss. I buy pizza dough from the grocery store or use English muffins or bagels for my base. I used to buy pizza sauce or use regular leftover marinara but recently discovered a simple, quick, and inexpensive way to make my own pizza sauce.

The hit in our house tonight was made with a very special pizza dough. The best store bought dough in my opinion is Portland Pie Co.'s Shipyard Beer pizza dough. It's not sold here in NJ, but I have a source (my big sister) near Albany who recently delivered me a frozen stash!

Once again, these pizza ideas come from my sister, a meal she prepared while I was visiting last fall. I let my dough come to room temperature and preheated the oven and pizza stone to 475 degrees. I prepared a Swiss and fig with caramelized onion spread pizza and a good ole margarita pie (pictured above) with fresh mozzarella and my easy pizza sauce (First frost already hit, no fresh basil for us). I drizzled olive oil over the crust prior to baking to create a pan style crunch.

So are you ready to never spend money on a jar of pizza sauce? The secret is to keep tomato paste on hand, your pantry ingredient for this meal. Maybe everyone else knew this, but I was shocked to discover how tasty my pizza sauce was. Combine 8 oz of water to one small can of tomato paste (costs about $0.60 per can/less if on sale) and season with herbs of your preference. I used oregano, garlic, and black pepper. Let the sauce sit so that it soaks in the flavor of the seasonings for at least ten minutes. One mixture made enough for three bar sized pizzas. So now I want to know, what will you be putting on your pizza?