Pizza Sauce
Browse your typical supermarket tomato-sauce aisle, and you’ll find a handful of products called “pizza sauce.” Typically, they’re loaded with sugar or corn syrup, and they taste nothing like what you get at your favorite pizzeria.
Luckily, an area restauranteur posted online his recipe for pizza sauce, and after a simple modification (water instead of chicken stock), I had my perfect no-frills sauce recipe.
Two months ago, I’d have posted that tried-and-true recipe on its own. Since then, I’ve found an ideal alternative, from a very modest source: Hunt’s Basil, Garlic, and Oregano Tomato Sauce (O-K pareve). Now, it’s the only sauce I use on my homemade pizzas.
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I think the Hunt’s sauce is good, but Don Pepino’s is my personal favorite. They have a Star K hechsher. They sell over the Internet at http://www.donpepino.com
Well, Kathy Ingham at Don Pepino informs me they don’t sell their products in the Metro-Boston area, so I guess I’ll have to order in bulk from their website. It better be good!
Scored a sample case of Don Pepino products. Kathy’s letting me "try before I buy", so I don’t have to commit to 24 cans of pizza sauce without ever having tasted it.
Let us know if this is up to your high standards. I may live in Kentucky, but I grew up with Neapolitans and Sicilians. Don Pepino’s is a Jersey style red "gravy" that I think tastes better than many jarred sauces.
I’ve been trying to make good pizza for years. I found a book called "American Pie: My search for the perfect pizza" and I have to tell you it has the best dough recipe. The first time I made it, the dough came out fantastic–best dough I’ve ever made.I’m not crazy about the sauce recipes though. They are too "gourmet." But he does make a good point. Do not cook the sauce. Most pizza joints do not cook their sauce. Tomato sauce is much "brighter" fresh from the can. Cooking it dulls the taste. The spices will blend enough when you cook the pizza. Also, pizza sauce should be fairly thin.
Hey again,
I just posted here about my first pizza-making experience. It’s a pity I didn’t read all these pizza posts before! We normally make our own tomato sauce for pasta (from canned tomatoes), but it seemed ridiculous to cook sauce for two people’s worth of pizza, so we used sauce from a jar. It was good sauce (not “pizza sauce”), but if uncooked sauce is best for pizza, I’ll happily “make” some next time — maybe with a splash of wine, some EVOO, and herbs.
Elf– After reading comment 5 a couple years back, I went out and got a copy of American Pie. I highly recommend it if you plan to make more pizza in the future; his dough and sauce recipes are great, and the narrative is just a hoot. Makes me want to travel across Italy tasting pizza.