A great pizza sauce is probably the easiest part of the pizza. This sauce can be made in minutes and has a wonderful freshness and a little hit of acidity to make it stand out without being overpowering. Although this recipe is simple, the simplicity is actually its strength. I don’t cook the tomatoes because they will cook while on the pizza – and overcooked tomatoes will lose their colour and fresh taste. You can make a lot of changes to this sauce to suit your tastes though. Use lemon juice if you prefer a little more tang in your sauce, or balsamic vinegar for a slightly richer taste. Do try to find the best canned tomatoes that you can. True pizza devotees, as well as many of the best pizza restaurants would use canned San Marzano tomatoes. These might not be available in your area (and watch out for cheap imitations!) so experiment until you find a brand that works for you. You may wish to add a little chopped fresh basil, if this would suit the toppings you plan to use. The acid from the lemon juice of vinegar also helps the sauce stay nice and red while cooking.
Ingredients
- 400g Canned whole tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Tomato concentrate (puree)
- 1 tsp Fresh or dried Oregano
- 1 tsp Lemon juice or Balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Tip the can of tomatoes into a strainer, reserving the tomatoes. You can also reserve a little of the juice from the can if you prefer a less thick sauce, but a thicker sauce makes the base less soggy.
- Remove just the tips of the tomatoes where the stalks were attached, and discard. These can make the sauce a little lumpy.
- Crush the tomatoes. You can use a blender or food processor for this but squishing the tomatoes in your clenched fist works well, makes less dishes, and is fun!
- Add all other ingredients to the crushed tomato mixture in a bowl and stir through. The sauce is now ready to use!
I got to have some garlic in mine, oil garlic, then I reduce the tomatoes very slowly and finaly basil or pesto, salt and pepper and all in a blender
Hi Kosta, good point about garlic, I do sometimes mash up a fresh clove of garlic and some basil in mine as well! Sometimes I prefer the taste when the tomatoes are put on uncooked, but I will give your recipe a try too next time!
400 grm can of crushed Itallian tomato
medium onion diced
6 cloves of garlic sliced thinly not crushed
two teaspoons od dried oregano
salt to taste
two tblspoons of olive oil
two large dried celery leaves
sautea onions till transparent with about one teaspoon of the garlic
add oregano and turn up heat to bring up oregano flavour
pour tomato onto mix and add other ingredients
lower heat and simmer with lid on to develop flavours remove lid to thicken
can be reduced rapidly if you want sauce now, like 20 mins total prep
A basic tomato sauce that can be altered and added to for many other dishes