Pizza Sauce

[StInGeR]

OK guys I've been challenged to a pizza cook off with my father in law. My pizza sauce is good but his is kick ass. I need help coz I'll be damned if I'll lose to FIL ANY help would be appreciated!!!!

Tom

[melkor]

How are you making your sauce now? What's better about his sauce?

[StInGeR]

When I can get fresh Italian tomatoes, I usually:

1. Boil them so I can skin them easily

2. Mince an onion

3. Crush tomatoes and add onion to slow cooker with a cple of minced cloves of garlic.

4. Add fresh oregano

5. Let simmer for a few hours in slow cooker

I have no idea what it is about his sauce mainly because he won't tell me. In my opinion more subtle than mine.. it's got more "body" however, if that makes sense?

Tom

Note: Australian pizza's are heavier on sauce than NY style pizza maybe that might be part of the problem.

[melkor]

How attached to the idea of using the slow cooker are you? Are you seeding the tomatoes before you toss them in?

You might want to start your minced onion in a pot with some olive oil or butter or whatever fat you prefer, cook it until it turns translucent and smells good, then toss in your crushed up tomatoes (without seeds) and herbs. I'd roast some garlic in advance and toss a bunch of cloves in at the same time as the tomatoes. I assume you've got some salt & pepper in there somewhere also.

[ExtraMSG]

Personally, I like to saute some sausage, then add onions and garlic, then tomatoes, simmer, then add some fresh basil towards the end, and finish with a bit of acid, such as lemon juice or balsamic. You have the tomato base, a rich meaty layer of flavor, plus a fresh high note.

You might try these threads:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=6607

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33228&hl=sauce

[tommy]

maybe his sauce isn't cooked at all.

[Jason Perlow]

throw a few hocks of prosciutto crudo in with the sauce while its simmering. I understand thats the secret ingredient in Difara's sauce.

[Cynthia G]

Add a splash of dry red wine (adds depth), some basil, and some crushed red pepper. Definitely do the sauteed garlic instead of just throwing it in. And at the risk of losing my eGullet posting privileges, I have found that if fresh Italian tomatoes aren't looking all that great, canned actually work better.

Is it wrong to now be craving pizza at 7:45 a.m.?

[...tm...]

I prefer an uncooked sauce for any thin crust pizza. It gives the whole pie a bright taste, plus it takes no work whatsoever--just puree some canned san marzano tomatoes with salt and pepper (and if you're me, plenty of garlic and pepperoncini). Long-simmered sauces traditionally go with thicker, raised crusts. To me they always taste too sweet in the context of bread and cheese, but I've been shown to have sweet-a-phobia these past few years.

[slkinsey]

Well... first of all, I'd lose the fresh tomatoes. Do what they do in Italy and find yourself a big can of peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes should only be used in quickly cooked sauces that are designed to emphasize the freshness of the primary ingredient.

Second, what are you going after for your pizza sauce? If you want something simple, subtle and robust for the pizza, I'd suggest using nothing more than salt, pepper, hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes and plenty of good quality evoo. The reason your FIL's sauce is more subtle and yet better is likely because it has better primary ingredients and less other stuff. No onion. No garlic. No herbs. Maybe a little top-quality concentrato (tomato paste) if you think it needs to have a thicker consistency. Cook together for around 30 minutes, dress with additional evoo off the heat. Cook the concentrato alone in the oil before adding tomatoes if you want to use concentrato. All herbs, etc. you can add raw to the pizza when you bake it (or, better yet, after you take it out of the oven). This is a reasonable facsimile of the Neapolitan way, the main difference being that a wood fired oven is to hot that the sauce wouldn't be cooked at all -- the canned tomatoes, evoo and salt would be put on the crust raw and would cook in the heat of the oven.

If you really want to add the onion and minced garlic and use a slow cooker, make sure you cook the garlic and onion in a little evoo before adding it to the cooker. Onion and garlic will never cook properly if they are just simmered in the sauce rather than being softened first in fat.

[Oreganought]

Well... first of all, I'd lose the fresh tomatoes. Do what they do in Italy and find yourself a big can of peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes should only be used in quickly cooked sauces that are designed to emphasize the freshness of the primary ingredient.

Don't tell my Italian MIL that,she whould chase you all over the kitchen during tomato canning time.And I would have to agree with her.Of course the season is so short that I will admit to using canned tomatoes,when my stash runs out.

[slkinsey]

What I get out of this is that your Italian MIL uses home-canned tomatoes 95% of the time instead of factory-canned tomatoes. Well, by all means, people who have access to home canned tomatoes should certainly avail themseves of that product for their sauces.

But still... the fact remains that very few fully-cooked tomato sauces in Italy are made with fresh tomatoes as opposed to canned/jarred tomatoes.

[Dana]

Drain a can of San Marzano tomatoes. Add a couple of glugs of evoo, salt and pepper and a big pinch of oregano. Buzz with the handy dandy hand blender. Spoon it thinly on the crust. Keep it simple.

[Oreganought]

Yes I understand most tomato sauces are made from a canned product,but

to say you shouldn't use fresh tomatoes is I believe too finite a statement. IMO

For years now during tomato season we not only canned tomatoes,but also canned

our basic cooked tomato sauce from fresh,and it still is considered

special when we open a few for a good winter feast.And of course made enough

fresh sauce to pass out to our friends during that time as well.We all agree the

taste is superior to a canned tomato sauce.

[purplewiz]

I almost hate to mention it, since everyone else seems to have these really great sounding recipes....but the pizza sauce that I made with a friend of mine for a "top your own pizza" party was made with stuff we got from Price Club/Costco.

It was simply a large can of crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, garlic, and salt. I'm pretty sure the garlic was garlic powder, too. We just put it all in a large stock pot, guessed at the amounts, heated it through to simmering, and let it sit to let the flavors do their things. The guests raved about it - and we didn't exactly have a recipe to give them. Oops. We just added things until it "tasted right".

I guess this just echoes the "keep it simple" messages.

Marcia.

[AzRaeL]

what kinda pizza? sounds like a Magerita.

My first fav pizza is the Quattro Formaggi

[Harry]

I'm taking a stab at pizza making and can't seem to get the sauce right. Should the sauce be cooked? Should I use marinara sauce? Should I just run canned plum tomatoes through a food mill and use that for sauce? If anybody has any information I would appreciate it.

[srhcb]

I'm taking a stab at pizza making and can't seem to get the sauce right.  Should the sauce be cooked?  Should I use marinara sauce?  Should I just run canned plum tomatoes through a food mill and use that for sauce?  If anybody has any information I would appreciate it.

←

I usually cook mine to get the flavors to meld.

Canned tomatoes are fine, just drain them well.

Use liberal amounts of whatever spices you prefer, plus a lot more ground pepper and sweetener (a shot of ketchup will work) than you think you should.

SB (and then be generous when saucing the pizza)

[slkinsey]

This all depends on what style/effect you're going for and what equipment you're using.

For thin crust pizzas cooked at high heat, I prefer San Marzano (or other high quality canned) tomatoes, drained and lightly crushed along with coarse salt and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. No cooking required, as the heat of the oven takes care of that.

Other people like a cooked pizza sauce with lots of dried basil and oregano, garlic, etc. This is similar to what you'd get at a deck-oven "pizza parlor."

Edited June 28, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[Harry]

This all depends on what style/effect you're going for and what equipment you're using.

For thin crust pizzas cooked at high heat, I prefer San Marzano (or other high quality canned) tomatoes, drained and lightly crushed along with coarse salt and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.  No cooking required, as the heat of the oven takes care of that.

Other people like a cooked pizza sauce with lots of dried basil and oregano, garlic, etc.  This is similar to what you'd get at a deck-oven "pizza parlor."

←

slkinsey, I'm cooking thin crust pizza in a regular home oven. The oven is gas-fired and gets at least 550 degrees. Is that hot enough for uncooked sauce?

[rickster]

Peter Reinhart in "American Pie" provides a recipe for uncooked sauce and the recipes are intended for home ovens cranked to about 550. I believe he suggests adding garlic and herbs to the crushed tomatoes and letting it steep for an hour or so.

[slkinsey]

slkinsey, I'm cooking thin crust pizza in a regular home oven.  The oven is gas-fired and gets at least 550 degrees.  Is that hot enough for uncooked sauce?

That's what I do for mine. Just use a nice thick pizza stone (or several stacked on top of each other for more thermal mass) on the bottom of the oven so the gas jets fire more-or-less directly into the stone, and make sure you preheat at least an hour.

Also, the best advice I can give you when it comes to making thin crust pizza in a home oven: use half as much topping (and this includes sauce) as you're inclined to use. There should be spots that are just sauce, there should be spots that are just cheese, and there should be spots that are just crust. This way, the sauce has a chance to cook in the heat of the oven before the crust burns. Something like this:

[doctortim]

Another vote for drained canned tomatoes, blended quickly in a food processor with some salt. The tomatoes have to be good quality though -- I'm not one to blindly go out and buy fancy ingredients for the sake of it, but canned tomatoes are one of those areas where good quality makes a huge difference. And for what it's worth, good quality tomatoes aren't expensive. Here in South Australia, the imported Italian tomatoes are cost less at an Italian deli (less again if you buy a whole slab) than the supermarket brand tomatoes cost at the supermarket.

[DTBarton]

slkinsey is doling out good advice, I second those notions whole heartedly. To make pizza sauce (cooked), I take my homemade marinara and put a cup or so in the blender and blend it smooth.

I've found using 00 flour with a little whole wheat added makes a good crust mixture.

[Becca Porter]

I highly recommend Peter Reinhart's American Pie. It has fantastic crusts, sauces, and pizzas. It is very inspiring. I especially love his rosemary, pistachio, red onion pizza rosa al bianco.