No-Cook Pizza Sauce

I swear every time I post about tomato sauce I make claims about it getting easier.  But this time, the simplicity comes from a new angle - it is uncooked!  P. Rein (Peter Reinhart) says there is no need to precook pizza sauce because most canned tomatoes (all?) are precooked and the sauce will cook in the oven anyway.  I was a little doubtful about this sauce (why would I doubt P. Rein?), because when you taste it with your finger (err, a spoon?), the flavors aren't really blended...probably because it isn't cooked yet.  But put this sucker on some pizza dough and into a 500 degree oven, and you have the perfect mix of flavorful sauce and minimal effort.  I especially appreciate the no-cook aspect because once I cooked my tomato sauce immediately before putting it on the pizza, which led to an even messier/more difficult transfer into the oven.

 I have been cooking pizza so much at home that I finally caved and bought a pizza peel recently (the paddle you transfer pizzas to and from the oven with) and it helps a lot.  If you get into homemade pizza like me, I highly recommend buying a stone and a peel.  Both of mine are from Williams Sonoma and they are the biggest peels and stones that I've seen out there, which is helpful if you want to make big, thin pizzas like this gal.

All you need is pictured above: kosher salt, 28 oz. crushed tomatoes, one lemon, garlic, dried oregano, dried basil, and fresh pepper.

Since this is no cook sauce, you just pour all the ingredients into a bowl, mix, and voila!  I think I eye-balled the measurements based on the recipe to make my life even easier.

This sauce obviously makes way more than you need for one pizza.  I think it makes enough for about 4 pizzas, which is perfect since the pizza dough recipe makes enough for 4 pizzas as well.  Isn't life grand?

Crushed Tomato Pizza Sauce
From Peter Reinhart's American Pie

1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
5 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or red wine vinegar or a combo of the two)
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix together well and use on your favorite pizza dough.  Freeze the leftovers in 3/4 cup increments to save for easy pizza-making in the future.