Simple BBQ Sauce-Why Buy Store Bought?

Yesterday I was making a pizza for my kids using a new dough recipeI came up with in an attempt to copy the chewy crust that can be had at The Mellow Mushroom restaurant. They use bread flour, molasses, salt and yeast which produces a darker crust which is chewy like a soft pretzel and quite delicious.

For the pizza I decided to let the kids try something they have never has before, a BBQ chicken pizza. Basically, BBQ sauce, roasted and pulled chicken, cheese, peppers onions and a drizzle of olive oil

Nothing too fancy but I needed BBQ sauce and had none. So I made a super simple sauce which was basically vegetables, ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar and a touch of liquid smoke....like 4 drops. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1 tbs coconut oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 large bell pepper, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 tbs molasses
  • 1/4 c light brown sugar
  • 2 cups organic tomato ketchup
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 3 tbs apple cider vinegar
  • pinch Northern Italian Seasoning

Method:

  1. In a large sauce pot over medium-high heat add butter and coconut oil, then vegetables.
  2. Saute vegetables until they start to color a bit, add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil, turn off heat and let rest 30 minutes.
  3. Using a stand blender, Vitamix or immersion blender process the BBQ sauce until it's smooth.....you can leave some texture if you like....mine was fairly smooth.
  4. Adjust seasoning.....make sure it has enough salt.....that is it!!

Now I must say, this took 40 minutes for me....and the results were amazing. Kids loved it and it was so easy that I wonder why people buy BBQ sauce. I will admit I "usually" would use tomatoes and a touch of paste instead of ketchup but in the interest of time I used the organic ketchup with good results. So, give it a try some time.....maybe you can add a few hot peppers if kids are not going to be eating it.

 

keith snowComment