Sam's Pizza Sauce...

My nephew Sam loves to cook. He is very opinionated about food and at age 12 has a highly sophisticated palette. He'll eat anything from imported proscuitto to stinky morbier cheese. He also LOVES sushi. He has definitely inherited the foodie gene that seems to run in the family. So last weekend we decided we wanted to make homemade pizza and Sam was in charge of the sauce. He let it cook down for a while and would then taste, add more tomato paste and herbs and then taste again. He reminded me of Ratatouille.

Here is his version of delicious pizza sauce:

- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 sweet onion diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp of tomato paste
- 2 tbsp fresh herbs (we used rosemary and oregano)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Over medium heat place the oil into a sauce pan and sautee the garlic cloves until the scent of garlic fills the air (be sure to stir constantly and not burn the garlic -- this should take about a minute or so). Add the onions and sweat until translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and let cook down for about 30 minutes. About a tbsp at a time, add the tomato paste and mix well into the sauce, stirring constantly. Once all of the paste has been added let cook down for another 15-20 minutes.

Finely dice the herbs and ad to the sauce. Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

This is great on pasta or when used as a pizza sauce.