Margherita Pizza Sauce

 Pizza sauce in the US is really just so... acidic and tomato-ey!   We loved the mild flavors of Margherita pizza sauce in Italy!   This is a copycat, quick sub that's pretty good (although I'm sure it's not nearly as good as legit Margherita sauce!) 

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes (Canned Italian plum tomatoes are best, but can be hard to find.)  
3  garlic cloves, minced 
1 tsp olive oil 
1/16 tsp salt 
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper 

Toss it all in the blender and blend until smooth.  

To make Margherita pizza: 
1 - preheat pizza stone at 450 degrees.
2 - Make a sourdough pizza crust (recipe coming soon) and roll out as thin as you can. 
3 - Remove the pizza stone and put on hot pads.  Place pizza crust on the pizza stone.  Spread a thin layer of Margherita pizza sauce on top. 
4 - Thinly slice fresh mozzarella cheese (packaged in water) and place spread out on top of the pizza (not like cheesy american pizzas!)  
5 - Bake 7-10 minutes until crust is golden and cheese bubbly.  
6 - Add fresh chopped basil leaves to the top.   

Flying Iguana Guacamole

We went to the Flying Iguana restaurant where they prepped fresh guacamole tableside.  This is my re-creation / copycat recipe!  So good! 

1.5 TBS chopped cilantro
2 TBS chopped roma tomatoes
2 TBS chopped red onions
1 TBS chopped jalapeno 
2 Ripe avocados (stem pulls out easily)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 lime, juiced  

Put chopped veggies in a bowl.   Add the smashed avocado.  Then sprinkle with salt & pepper and lime juice.  Mix with a fork till combined!  Use a rubber spatula to scoop out the mixture into a clean bowl for serving, or just dig in!