Classic Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe | Julie Blanner (2024)

FAQs

What gives pizza sauce its distinctive flavor? ›

Traditional pizza sauce is made with a base of tomatoes and spices like garlic, onion, basil, and oregano. You might think that this makes a pizza simple or boring, but this isn't the case. There are so many varieties and recipes for it that you'll never get bored of this meal!

The baking soda is supposed to mellow out the sauce a little bit, make it less acidic, and possibly prevent heartburn.

Add Tomato Paste

In addition to helping to alter the consistency of your sauce, this pantry staple will also help to further enhance the rich, savory flavors of tomato sauce. Arturo recommends stirring in a tablespoon or two and cooking your sauce until it reaches your desired consistency.

Spices: Basil, oregano, onion powder, salt & pepper. Taste and adjust these spices to your liking. Sugar: I know it sounds like a weird addition but granulated sugar is an essential ingredient as it mellows out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Baldwin suggests making your toppings yourself for the best homemade pizza. "Slice your own pepperoni for a thicker cut, roast red peppers and garlic, crumble and sauté some sausage," she says. "Doing all these things from scratch makes the pizza truly great."

Skip The Sugar In Pizza Sauce

And if you're out of balsamic, or just want a different taste, red wine vinegar will work, too. A rich, flavorful balsamic vinegar brings a kind of sweetness that's balanced, elegant, and perfect for a savory dish — because the last thing a good pizza needs is an overly-sweet tomato sauce.

SUMMARY – San Marzano are the tomatoes by excellence for classic red sauce pizza. Some other varieties include the Pomodorino del Piennolo- yellow or red. If San Marzano is impossible to find where you live, oblong peeled tomatoes are the best next choice.

Does sugar take acid out of tomato sauce? ›

We've always preferred adding a bit of sugar. It can't neutralize acidity in the same way that baking soda can, but sugar does change our perception of other tastes.

Mix together water, tomato paste, and olive oil in a large bowl or jar. Add garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper; mix well. Let sauce stand for several hours to let flavors blend. No cooking is necessary; just spread on dough.

Over blending may cause too much water to seep out of your tomatoes resulting in a watery pizza sauce. If you are using crushed tomatoes, simply dump into a container/bowl, add salt to taste and mix to combine. Easy, right?!

The key to great New York-style sauce is creating balance between sweetness, acidity and heat, with a definite herbal backbone. Furthermore, it needs a texture that's thin enough enough to spread, but thick enough to keep your pizza from turning soggy during the de rigeur fold-and-carry.

Too much fresh cheese with a high water content can also lead to sogginess. For example, fresh mozzarella that's stored in liquid should be used carefully, as it releases a lot of moisture in the oven. The best cheese for pizza is a blend of cheeses for great texture, flavour and colour that won't compromise your base.

Umami, which is used as both an adjective and a noun, is a taste sensation produced by naturally occurring glutamate, an amino acid that's often found in meat and some vegetables. Pizza contains a large amount of glutamate.

It creates the characteristic taste of Italian cuisine. It can be sprinkled on Salads, Soups, Marinades, Sauces, and Pizzas.

Quite simply, pizza sauce has a lot fresher, more raw taste than pasta sauce. This is because pizza sauce is barely cooked (sometimes not cooked at all), whereas pasta sauce is slow-simmered for hours to develop richness.

The Difference Between Pizza and Pasta Sauce

It usually has a few more herbs involved, like basil or even a bay leaf. Cooked sauce will have a sweeter, richer, deeper flavor. Since the noodles are already cooked when they're tossed in the sauce, it's nice to already have the flavor developed in the sauce.