question about the sauce recipe on this site...

[Momo]

I made the sauce from the recipe listed here. My question is... are you supposed to use all the liquid in the can or drain it off? I went ahead and used the entire contents of the can... water and all. It came out okay, but a bit soupy and so here I am asking the question. FWIW, I also added a bit of crushed red pepper for a bit of fire (~1/3 tsp) and a bit of crushed fennel for that "secret ingredient" flavor.

On a more blasphemous note, I did recently find a canned sauce that I thought was incredibly good - Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce. Try it if you're feeling adventurous.

[RTflorida]

I always drain my tomatoes straight from the can then run though the "medium" strainer in my food mill, this gives the texture I like. I finish up my pouring through the "fine" strainer to get rid of the water from crushing the tomatoes through the mill...turns out not to thick or pasty and has very little water left to make the pizza soggy. I tend to go a little heavy on the sauce, hence the extra straining.

[Alfredo]

I thicken tomato sauce with tomato paste. Heat some olive oil, toss in some chopped garlic until very lightly browned, then a small can (I think they're 5 1/2 or 6 ounces) of tomato paste. Stir to get everything incorporated, then let it cook a bit - careful not to burn it. Add a can of tomatoes (with liquid), herbs & spices, and simmer. That's the way my mother taught me and I've never heard a complaint.

Hints
- the longer you cook the paste the richer the final sauce will be - but burning makes butterness.
- similarly, long simmering richens the sauce. I prefer that for pasta, but a lighter version for pizza.
- for pasta sauce I prefer about three or four times as much basil as oregano; for pizza the proportions are about reversed. Less basil if I decide to use rosemary too. I measure everything by eye and repeated sips. This is where the phrase, "season to taste" makes yours different from mine.
- even with a spatula (or your finger, as I prefer) it is difficult to get all of the tomato paste out of the can. I usually splash some wine in there and stir or shake until the paste dissolves into it, then toss that into the simmering sauce. Gives it a sweet flavor.
- I believe sauce for pizza should be smooth and for pasta, chunky. Use an immersion blender or a standing blender to puree the tomatoes and anything handy to cut them.

Play with your food!

[RTflorida]

My personal taste isn't for cooked sauce on pizza, just canned San Marzano tomatoes run through the mill, salt, pepper, a bit of garlic, basil. The 800+ degrees more than heats/cooks the sauce.
Never been a fan of tomatoe paste in anything....again, just my preference. It is really all about your own personal taste and preference, thick, thin, sweet, sour, cooked, uncooked.....experiment and make it your own.

RT

[Alfredo]

Good point - I have never cooked pizza at WFO temperatures and forgot about that.

It is really all about your own personal taste and preference, thick, thin, sweet, sour, cooked, uncooked.....experiment and make it your own.

Exactly!

[Momo]

Wow... lots of great advice! Thanks to everyone who replied. I will try the sauce again and this time lose the water. I do have some tomato paste somewhere in the cupboard... so I might try that too. I'll try anything once and twice if it tastes good.

Has anyone ever tried fresh ground fennel in their sauce? I find it adds an interesting occasional licorice flavor.

I'll be cooking my sauce until I get an oven that heats up to the temperature of the surface of the sun. Since my LPG grill had a Chernobil-like meltdown, I'm stuck with the conventional oven. Oh, which brings me to another question... since you guys with WFOs are cooking at insane temps, would it make sense to turn up a conventional oven to 500+? (using a stone) I think mine go to just over 550 deg. (runs about 10 deg hot)

[rjdirienzo]

I use a conventional oven and fire it up to full heat of 550 degrees.

[gjbingham]

RT,
Do you drain off the liquid in the can of tomatoes?
Thanks
George

[christo]

when lacking san marzonos - I have tried the POMI crushed tomatos that come in a box with good results. No draining.

I love the red wine vinegar option for the sauce!!

Christo