Friday = Pizza and movie night

For the past month or so, we've had a weekly pizza and movie night.  As my mom jokingly puts it, we "eat the movie and watch the pizza."  Some of my favorite recent movies include "The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," both starring Cary Grant.  I also enjoyed the original version of "The Shaggy Dog" and the classic "Lawrence of Arabia." 

Anyways, we rarely order pizza out, preferring to make it ourselves.  Mom and/or Dad make the crust, I make the pizza sauce, and my sibs help with grating cheese or slicing toppings.  It can be quite a production sometimes!  ;)

For the pizza sauce, one 28-oz. can of diced or crushed tomatoes is more than enough for 2 large pizzas.  Here's how I generally make the sauce:

Heat a pot on medium-high on the stove.  When it's hot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sautee either 2 cloves of garlic or 1 small, finely chopped shallot.  Then add about 2 teaspoons of basil, oregano, and/or thyme, and one pinch of red pepper flakes.  Add one can of diced/crushed tomatoes and bring to simmer.  Cover partially and cook for about 10 minutes.  Taste and season with salt, pepper, and sugar as needed.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Voila!

Very simple recipe.  I like it because it's fairly quick and there are boundless variations.  Plus, if there's any leftover sauce, we freeze it.  Awesome for those nights we don't feel like making sauce. 

(bad picture, I know, but the lighting was poor and this was best pic of the bunch)