Authentic Italian Pizza Sauce
Fresh, Neapolitan-style pizza sauce, straight from Italy.
Ingredients
- 1 14-oz high-quality tomatoes, fresh or canned if canned, use San Marzano
- 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 8-10 basil leaves, lightly torn, or 1 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Pour the tomatoes into a bowl. If they are whole, either crush them with your hands or you can use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut them up directly in the bowl. This will give you a chunky tomato sauce (which is authentic) but some prefer it completely smooth (also authentic). If this is the case, simply puree the tomatoes using a food processor, blender or immersion blender before adding the rest of the ingredients. If you are able to find passata, the Italian smooth canned tomatoes, use it as is.
- Gently tear or chiffonade the basil and add. If you are using oregano instead of basil, add that instead. Stir well.
- Add the extra virgin olive oil and salt. Combine well and cover until ready to use. Taste for seasoning and adjust salt, if need be.
Notes
Tomatoes - If using canned, try and get the best quality crushed or whole peeled San Marzano variety. DOP is the creme della creme but if you don’t see San Marzano DOP, don’t fret or panic, just go with S.Marzano.
Substitutions:
- Although not authentic in Italy, try adding red pepper flakes to your pizza sauce for a spicy bite. In Italy, if you order a spicy pizza or pizza diavola, it will come with spicy sausage or salame on it.
- Do not even think about adding garlic salt, “Italian seasoning” or sugar to your pizza sauce (that would really offend the Italians, my Italian sister-in-law in particular who is the pizza queen).
- Do not substitute tomato paste for the tomato puree or canned tomatoes. It won’t come out well.
- Canned cherry tomatoes will do just fine if you can’t find San Marzano.
- Try making half the sauce chunky and half the sauce smooth. Compare to see what you prefer!
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