A few nights ago, TSB came over to make pizza with me. I’m a big fan of buying dough at the pizzeria or grocery store (Trader Joe’s has decent whole wheat dough), rolling it thin and grilling it on my Griddler, before covering it with cheese, sauce and toppings. A few minutes in the oven at 400 degrees to melt the cheese and warm it through, and you have a great pizza.

Last week’s homemade ravioli experiment taught us that she and I are not the best culinary collaborators without a designated leader, but when one of us takes the helm and they other plays sous chef, we make a great team in the kitchen.

We built one pizza with grilled turkey ham, sautéed shallots and leeks, and goat cheese and another with sautéed mushrooms and goat cheese, and based on the remaining ingredients, we made a shallot, leek, mushroom and goat cheese pie.

I was assigned to grill the dough and prep the veggies, while she took the lead on designing the menu, creating the toppings, and cooking the sauce. This was the first time she had made pizza sauce, and had recently decided she wanted to create her own recipe. That night she engaged in what we expected would be a long and arduous process of revamping and fine tuning, but by Jove, she nailed it the first time! This sauce is incredible, and despite my foolhardy urging, has no added sugar, so it is far better for you than what you can buy in a jar.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
½ can tomato paste
3 stewed Roma tomatoes from a can
¼ cup cabernet sauvignon
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf

1. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Smash and peel two cloves garlic and add to pan, removing when they start to brown.
3. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer and thicken, stirring frequently.
4. Remove bay leaf before using.