I have yet to find a pizza sauce or marinara sauce without added sugar and/or chemicals. Here is my pizza sauce recipe that with a slight tweak works for marinara sauce too. My next recipe will be a pizza casserole using this sauce and the Italian sausage recipe I posted on Monday.
Pizza Sauce
2 quarts Tomato Juice or homemade stewed, pureed tomatoes (avoid canned tomato products and try to buy in glass jars if possible, plastic is better than canned since the canning process heats to 225 degrees, releasing toxic BPA)
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
1 Tbsp dried oregano or 2 drops oregano oil
2 tsp basil or 1 drop basil oil
1.5 Tbsp ground fennel seed (omit fennel for marinara sauce)
Salt to taste
Place all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium to medium low heat for several hours. Stir occasionally at first (every half hour or so) and more often as the sauce reduces and thickens (every 5-10 minutes). When the mixture has reduced about halfway, remove the onion and garlic with a slotted spoon. Continue to boil until it is thick enough that when a spoon scrapes across the bottom, the sauce doesn’t run back into the space (see picture for visual). Salt to taste if needed after cooking is complete.
A similar recipe can be made for marinara sauce, just not as thick and hold the fennel.