Every once in a while I experience a serious pizza craving.  Of course, it has been quite a while since I have had a “real” pizza (meaning one with REAL cheese), but as long as my pizza includes a delicious pizza sauce I am more than satisfied!

Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) though, have been banned from my diet.  Hopefully it will just be for a season, but until then I had to find a way to have pizza sauce!

I have tried a few nightshade-free pizza sauce recipes, but to be honest most were not worth all the work they required. So when I was struck with a pizza craving last week, I set out to create a simple “Nomato” Pizza Sauce.  I could not have been happier with the result.  The best part of this recipe is that my husband actually loved it too – and upon smelling the sauce thought that it was real pizza sauce.

So for all of you Pizza Lovers out there that have had to give up nightshades too, enjoy!

Nomato Pizza Sauce

Prep: 10-15 min        Cook: 50 min        Yields: About 2 cups

Ingredients

• Huge handful of fresh basil leaves (this really makes the sauce tasty)
• 1 small or half of medium to large beet (boiled, roasted, or baked – I like to wrap mine in foil, sprinkle with salt and a bit of olive oil, and place it in the oven at 350 for 30-45 min)
• 5 medium carrots (boiled, roasted, or baked)
• 1/2 onion (roasted, sauteed or caramelized preferably, but also works well raw)
• 2 cups water (or more/less to your preferred thickness)
• 2 tsp oregano
• 3/4 tsp 1 tsp sea salt (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder or 2 roasted garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Tools

• food processor or blender
• aluminium foil
• deep saucepan

Directions

1. Add the carrots, beet, onion, 1 cup of the water, the seasonings, and the fresh basil leaves to a food processor or blender, puree until smooth. If adding to a blender feel free to add the full amount of water (the food processor may overflow/leak if you add too much liquid so I only recommend adding a cup for this method.)
2. Pour the pureed mixture into a deep saucepan.  Stir to ensure it is well-combined.
3. Over medium-heat bring the sauce to a slow boil, and immediately begin to stir to keep it from splattering. Reduce heat to a low-medium heat and let the sauce simmer and reduce for 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.
4. After 20 minutes, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the olive oil. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
5. Slather on a pizza crust!! I recommend one of these: My English Muffins (Dairy-free, Nut-free), Paleo Spirit (Dairy-Free, Nut-Free) or Curious Coconut (AIP).

PIZZA TIME!