Simple Pizza Sauce
5 mineasy4 original servings
No cooking required — it cooks on the pizza. This is the Italian way and it's so much better than a long-simmered sauce. Makes enough for 4 pizzas.
Ingredients
Serves
Sauce
- 400 g tin Italian whole tomatoes (San Marzano if available, otherwise any decent Italian brand)
- 5 ml salt
- 15 ml olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, grated (optional)
- a few fresh basil leaves, torn
- pinch of sugar (if your tomatoes are very acidic)
Instructions
- 1
Tip the tomatoes into a bowl. Crush them by hand into chunky bits — some small pieces, some bigger. Don't blend; you want texture.
- 2
Stir in salt, olive oil, garlic (if using), torn basil and the pinch of sugar if needed.
- 3
Taste. Adjust salt. Done. Sauce should be loose and fresh, not thick.
- 4
Spread thinly on the rolled-out base with the back of a spoon — just enough to cover. Too much sauce drowns the pizza.
Notes & Tips
Italian tomatoes only
Italian tinned tomatoes are sweeter, less acidic and have proper tomato flavour. The local SA stuff works in stews but is wrong for pizza.
Spreading the sauce
Spread sauce in a thin layer with the back of a soup spoon in spiral motions. Leave a 2 cm border for the crust.
Leftover sauce
Leftover sauce keeps 4 days in the fridge. Use on pasta the next night.