How To Make All-Natural Pizza From Scratch!

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A couple of years ago—when she started to buy a little teenie can of prepared pizza sauce in a supermarket—Barryton, Michigan's Carolyn Allen was floored by the tiny container's giant price.

"So I decided to make my own pizza sauce from my own homegrown produce during the following canning season," Carolyn now says. "It took a bit of experimenting to come up with just the right amount of all the ingredients . . . but I finally hit upon a blend that the folks around here seem to relish. The secret is the herbs: Don't be afraid to put more of 'em in than you think you shouldl That's what gives my sauce its hearty flavor and character."

CAROLYN ALLEN'S "SCRATCH" PIZZA SAUCE . . .

Mix 12 to 14 pounds of cored and skinned fresh or home-canned tomatoes together with one pound (two cups) of chopped celery, three cups of chopped onions, three chopped green peppers, one or two finely chopped cloves of garlic, and either one-quarter cup of Italian seasoning or two tablespoons of oregano, one tablespoon of basil, and one tablespoon of thyme. (If you like, you can also add one to one and a half cups of finely diced summer squash. It won't change the taste but the squash will extend the sauce and make it thicken more quickly.)

Simmer all these ingredients together over a low heat for two to three hours, or until the mixture has cooked into a thick, savory richness. Then cool the sauce, pour it into one-pint freezing cartons (it should fill about eight of them), and freeze .

. . .JUST NATURALLY GOES WITH CO-OP CHEESE . . .

"I also prepackage cheese and sausage for my homemade pizzas," Carolyn goes on. "We buy the cheese in six-pound blocks from a food co-op and I shred it with my salad maker and stash it away in the freezer in one-pint cartons. When we thaw it later and use it, it's every bit as good as (but far less expensive than) the costly little packets of shredded cheese sold in the supermarkets.

"The same goes for the sausage. I buy it freshly ground and seasoned—but with absolutely no unwanted preservatives added—from a local butcher shop, and freeze it (three-quarters of a pound per container) in pint cartons."

.. . AND "SCRATCH" PIZZA CRUST!

"I like to prepare dough ahead for pizza crusts too," Carolyn says. "Whenever I bake loaves of whole wheat, anadama, herb, or other breads . . . I just mix up a little extra, package the dough in onepound lots, and freeze it right alongside my other ingredients. Then—when pizza day rolls around—all I have to do is go to the freezer and select one container of crust, one sauce, one sausage, and one cheese . . . thaw everything . . . roll out the dough and spread on the sauce, sausage, and cheese . . . bake my creation at 450°F for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned . . . and 'serve 'er up' to a hungry family of four."

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