Slow and steady pizza sauce
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 8 batches of pizza sauce | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 2.25 hours | 2.5 hours |
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This is my ultimate pizza sauce recipe that was taught to me by my baking teacher that was taught to him 15 years ago and so on down the line. I think this particular recipe has been handed down in the culinary school I attended for several generations of students.
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- 30 ml olive oil
- 15 g butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 8 ml onion powder
- 2 to 4 ml red pepper flakes strongly recommended but also optional
- 5 ml fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 60 g Parmesan cheese coarsely grated
- 10 g brown sugar
- 170 g canned tomato sauce
- 55 g tomato paste
- 160 ml warm water
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Chop your fresh Basil
- Mince or press the garlic. Make your garlic as small as you can make it as it changes the flavour profile and texture significantly.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese
- Heat a large pot over medium flame
- Add olive oil
- Melt butter until it is almost shimmers
- Add crushed/minced garlic cloves to saucepan
- Stir the garlic a few times to release the aromatics and to prevent it from browning
- Add onion powder
- Add red pepper flakes
- Add finely chopped Basil
- Add Oregano
- Stir everything a few more times
- Let the herbs bloom in the mixture for about 30 seconds
- Add Parmesan cheese
- Add brown sugar
- Add tomato sauce
- Add tomato paste
- Add the warm water
- Stir to combine everything
- Increase the heat a smidgen and bring the mixture to a light boil
- When it just begins to bubble, turn the heat way down to as low as it will go
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Allow the pot to simmer for 1 to 2 hours, stirring about once every 20 minutes.
- Final taste and additional seasoning if necessary.
- Use immediately on a pizza. Alternatively let the entire pot cool completely and measure out in to small containers for freezing.
I've often made this and not had onion powder on the shelf, as a substitute I've reduced the number of garlic cloves to three and used the equivalent amount of garlic powder instead. You can also substitute the onion powder with 1/3rd of a medium onion, finely chopped which I recommend over the garlic powder.
If you forget about this sauce on the stove, which I have done on occasion, and then come back four or five hours later, you can revive it by adding in a few tablespoons of water, stirring gently to avoid the burnt bits on the bottom of the pan, and then let it cook for about 10 more minutes and then use or let it cool. Just avoid scraping the bottom of the pan and don't disturb the burnt leavings.
Can be used immediately after final seasoning, but a good simmering lets the flavour develop.
Stores in the refrigerator in a jar with a tight fitting lid for two or more weeks. Can be frozen almost indefinitely.
This recipe easily doubles. I often make up a quadruple batch once every couple of months and then store individual 120g (4 oz) portions in ZipLoc containers with snap on lids.
I use this sauce on my pizzas. I add it as a little extra flavouring to my ragu or simple sauce recipes. And we use it as the dipping sauce when I make all of my cheesy garlic breads.
I store this sauce in small Ziploc containers. Each container holds enough sauce for two 10" pizzas. When I need pizza sauce, I can either remove it from the freezer a few hours ahead of time, or nuke it in the microwave on low-power (pop the lid on the container) for a couple of minutes.