Spicy Pizza Sauce

The basic difference between the Pizza sauce and Pasta sauce is that pizza sauce is the uncooked tomato sauce and pasta sauce is cooked slowly with basil with herbs.

The sauce I tried not only worked well for pizzas but also tasted good with pasta.

The main ingredient are the ripe tomatoes. Tomatoes are said to be the natives of America and reached Europe with the early explorers who sailed in search of new lands. It came to India with the Portuguese explorers and merchants and became a fruit which we can't do without.

Ingredients :

• 4 big ripe tomatoes

• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp oregano

• 1/2 tsp red chili powder

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Salt to taste

• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup (optional)

Method :

• Wash and make a cross in the base of the tomatoes and boil them in water for few minutes, till the skin comes out easily.

• Remove the skin of the tomatoes and take 3 of them and blend it in a blender.

• In a pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute. Add the chopped onion and sauté till translucent.

• Chop the remaining 1 skinned tomato and add to the pan. Sauté for a minute and then add the pureed tomatoes.

• Add the basil, oregano, red chili powder and the salt. Mix it all well and then let it simmer on the medium low heat for five minutes with the closed lid.

• Add the optional tomato ketchup to the sauce and mix well. Check the consistency of the sauce. As the sauce thickens the flavors will get more intense.

If the sauce is too runny it will affect the pizza base. It should be thicker than the regular tomato sauce but not as thick as the tomato paste. If you are using the same sauce for pasta you can keep the sauce the same consistency as the regular tomato sauce.