Recipe: Je ne sais quoi Canadian Pizza Sauce

origin: my head

The jist: Some things you don’t need a recipe for. Like pizza sauce. You know you need some tomatoes, some spices, probably there’s going to be sauteeing and simmering. You look at what you’ve got in the cupboard, and then you just go.

But sometimes it turns out so good, you want to write it down. Then you realize you don’t have to write it down ’cause it’s so simple and awesome, it’s burned into your brain permanently, but you have to write it down anyway because everyone’s asking about it.

I call this Canadian pizza sauce because it combines ingredients from different cultures and this here land, but it still tastes authentically Italian. There’s just a little extra yummy in there you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s adapted, but not assimilated, and things that ought not get along somehow do. It respects where it came from, but at the same time, it’s liberal about improvising, using the materials at hand in the new-world. This, to me, represents the utopian ideal this country quite nearly almost attains when it’s working at it’s best. That’s what Canadian cuisine means to me.

This sauce is an important building block to my pizza, so keep an eye on this space for crust, toppings and super-secret pizza-bonusing tips. I’ll get them all posted eventually.

Ingredients:
Olive oil, some
1 Onion, any size, minced
Garlic, lots, crushed
Sherry, coupla tbsps
I big can of strained tomatoes
liberal amount of dried oregano
liberal amount of dried basil
liberal amount of dried rosemary
teensy pinch of celery seed (don’t overdo it– under-do it if you’re not sure)
pinch of curry powder (no, really)
really teeny pinch of chili flakes (we don’t want it spicy, we just want to add interest)
salt, pepper to taste
a tablespoon or two of pure maple syrup, to cut the acidity of the tomatoes

Method:
1- In a medium sauce pot, sautee the onion in oil over med-high heat for a few minutes, until it begins to achieve transparency
2- Add garlic and sherry, sautee for a couple minutes longer
3- Add the tomatoes, spices and maple syrup, stir well to make sure everything is nice and mixed up in there
4- Bring the whole thing just to a boil, then turn down the heat to med-low and simmer for half an hour.
5- Remove from heat and set aside until you’re ready to use it. The longer you can let it sit around, the more integrated all the flavours will be, so if you can leave it for a few hours until it cools, that’s magic. Put it in the fridge if you’re not going to use it the same day.

That’s it, that’s all.