In Italy, pizza sauce is not an over embellished ‘used to taste like tomatoes’ kind of sauce.
It’s a clean pure tomatoey not sure that’s a word sauce sometimes too salty usually not. I’ve eaten pizza from one end of Italy to the other so feel a little like a pizza ‘specialista’ In other words, a pizza expert! Ralph and I once ordered a pizza in Montalcino, home of the super Tuscans. To stay on budget we went cheap on lunch so we could splurge on the wine. While Ralph read through the encyclopedia of a wine menu, I stood at the counter and watched our pizza being prepared. Even the pizza joints had fabulous wine lists! I can’t begin to explain how devasted I was when I saw the cook spoon the pizza sauce straight from a large can of passata – a thin tomato puree. I asked him why he didn’t use a proper pizza sauce. He looked puzzled, had an animated discussion with his co-worker in Italian then explained to me in English that because he used many different fresh herbs on his pizzas he needed a clean taste to begin. He was also kind enough to share his secret of never baking the fresh herbs. He sprinkled them on after the pizza was done. “Why would I want to dry out my tender lovely herbs?” I had such a crush on this guy!!! He changed the way I would make pizza forever…
I love how gracefully these old fashion Homestead Lilies flank my doorways. I caught the beginnings of a spider web in the late afternoon sun.
Lady Bells, Daisies and Fireweed all basking in the hot weather. If a wild flower makes it’s way into one of my flower beds, I rarely have the heart to yank it. I wait until the flowering season is over then dig up the roots and all!
Both the soft pink rose and the lavender lady bells were planted years ago by another gardener. I love that they’ve found their way into my garden all these years later.
The first cut of hay was made this past Saturday. Our neighbour will take all of our hay this year to see his horses through the winter. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that Ralph and I have been able to bring the pastures back to a healthy and productive state. Four years of diligent care has produced lush sweet hay for the taking.
My herb garden is loving the hot weather! Dad knew what he was doing when he built my raised bed along side the back shed. The herbs get sun from dawn until early evening and they love it! This year I have sage, variegated sage, lavender, flat Italian parsley, basil, chives, tarragon, dill, rosemary, orange thyme, lemon thyme, French thyme, cilantro and variegated oregano which I used on the pizza for this post.
PIZZA SAUCE
makes 2 cups
28 ounces best quality diced plum tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt
cracked pepper to taste
Heat oil …gently saute garlic…do not brown
Add tomatoes and salt
Bring to boil…reduce heat…simmer til thick
THE LOVE: Use the very best imported diced plum tomatoes in puree that you can find. A little goes a long way!
one year ago: multi-grain pizza crust
two years ago: apricot upside down cake
Thanks for reading.
