International Receipes: Pizza Sauce Recipe

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making

The sauce you put on your pizza can mean the difference between a great pie and an average pie. If you know the components of a great pizza sauce, you can make your homemade pizza pies better than anything you can get in a restaurant.

Fresh tomatoes make a great base for a sauce. Plum tomatoes are meaty and full of flavor. They make a perfect choice for sauce. If you grow your own, you will want to blanch them, peel them, remove the seeds, and chop them into small pieces before cooking. Fresh tomatoes are not always available, however. You may need to resort to canned tomatoes.

Choosing Canned Tomatoes for Your Sauce
You can get canned tomatoes at the store. They come whole, diced, chopped, and crushed. You can also choose from tomato puree and tomato paste. A combination can be used to make great pizza sauce.

You can also add fresh tomatoes to the mix if you have them available. All canned tomato products should be a bright red color when you open the can. A dark color means that too much heat was used in production, while an orange color means that the tomatoes were not ripe.

Whatever tomato products you have chosen to use need to be cooked together. If you have chopped canned or fresh tomatoes, you will get a wonderful texture. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently. Keep an eye on it so the sauce does not cook too long.

Seasoning Your Pizza Sauces
With a good base of tomato, you only need to add spices and herbs to make a wonderful pizza sauce recipe. Garlic, pepper, and salt are basic seasonings you need to round out the depth of flavor. You may want to add a little bit of sugar too. Sugar serves to cut the tomato's acidity, making it more palatable. If you choose tomatoes with low acid content, this may not be necessary.

Most pizza sauces contain herbs. Oregano is the most common herb used in pizza sauce. Marjoram is very similar to oregano. It can be substituted for oregano if you prefer a milder form. Another traditional Italian herb is sweet basil. Other herbs commonly used in pizza sauce include tarragon, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. If you use bay, be sure to remove it from the sauce before putting it on the pizza.

For those who like a spicy sauce, you may want to add some red pepper flakes, cayenne, or hot paprika. A little goes a long way. Add just a pinch to put a little zing into the sauce. Alternatively, you can make your basic sauce and keep red pepper flakes on the table. That way your guests can enjoy your pizza spicy or not, at their choosing.

Another traditional ingredient is olive oil. Adding some to your sauce will add that extra Italian flavor. Green tinted olive oil will give you a fuller olive taste than paler oils. Add a little of your favorite wine to add more depth and richness to your sauce. It does not matter if it is red or white wine.

Below a recipe