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Pizza sauce – original recipe from Naples
The secret to perfect pizza sauce is the quality of the tomato. The better it is, the less you have to do to unleash its full potential. And you end up with the perfect tomato sauce for your pizza - simple, pure and full of flavor!
Table of contents
- Pizzasauce selber machen
- Pizza sauce like in a pizzeria
- The tomato makes the pizza sauce
- Never make pizza sauce in a blender!
- Do not boil down the pizza sauce
- More on the topic
- Video tutorial: Make your own pizza sauce
- Golden rules for the best pizza sauce
- The real pizza sauce is purist
- FAQ on the subject of pizza sauce
- 1 Can San Marzano tomatoes, 400 g net weight
- 4 g Salt
- 6 Basil leaves
- 1 EL Olive oil
Schritt für Schritt durch´s Rezept
- Step 1Place the tomatoes in a bowl and season with salt.
- Step 2Tear the basil leaves and add to the bowl.
- Step 3Add the olive oil.
- Step 4Mash everything with your hands or a fork little by little and mix. Alternatively, you can press the tomatoes through a metal kitchen sieve or pass them through a blender. The tomatoes are ready when there are no large chunks left.
Pizza sauce like in a pizzeria
In Germany, you will often find recipes for pizza sauce with onions, garlic, herbs, vegetables and even red wine. It all tastes delicious too, but it can’t be labeled “Italian”.
For Italian pizza chefs, less is more. A Neapolitan pizza generally contains only a few ingredients, but they are of a very high quality.
No one would elaborately refine a pizza sauce here. No oregano, no rosemary. On the contrary.
There isn’t even a common word for pizza sauce in Italian. It is simply called “pomodori” and refers to tomatoes. The classic sauce for pizza margherita in Naples is pure tomato.
As described in the recipe above, the pizza bakers only add coarsely chopped or fork-crushed canned tomatoes to the dough, which may also be seasoned with a little salt, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
The tomato makes the pizza sauce
How good the pizza tastes depends crucially on the quality of the tomatoes. No pizzaiolo in Naples uses fresh tomatoes. It has to be canned tomatoes. Preferably the ingenious San Marzano tomatoes. They grow right on the doorstep of Naples: on Mount Vesuvius, around the eponymous village of San Marzano.
Never make pizza sauce in a blender!
A common mistake when chopping canned tomatoes is to use a blender. The result is a watery consistency that is completely unsuitable for pizza. One of the secrets of a good pizza sauce lies in the texture: it shouldn’t be too runny or too chunky. If you work with your hands, you have perfect control over it.
Do not boil down the pizza sauce
Especially at the beginning of their pizza career, many people believe that pizza sauce – like a sugo – has to be cooked for a long time to be perfect. This is a widespread misconception. The sauce for a Neapolitan pizza is deliberately a little more watery, and there is a good reason for this: in the extremely hot pizza oven, which reaches over 400 degrees Celsius, water evaporates very quickly. If the sauce does not contain enough moisture, it can burn quickly – not only on the edges, but also in the middle.
More on the topic
Video tutorial: Make your own pizza sauce
If you prefer to watch information rather than read it, be sure to watch this video. Naples pizza world champion Davide Civitiello shows you how to process peeled San Marzano tomatoes to perfection – without a blender and without unnecessary spices! The result is an aromatic tomato sauce, just like in Naples.
Golden rules for the best pizza sauce
- Always use canned tomatoes, not fresh!
- With San Marzanos it tastes just like in Naples
- When it comes to seasoning, less is more
- Do not mix, but chop manually
- A drop of olive oil enhances the flavor
The real pizza sauce is purist
In Naples, the famous pizzeria “Da Michele” has a sign:
“Perciò nun e cercate
sti pizze complicate
ca fanno male â sacca
e o stommaco patì…”
“Don’t look for fully loaded pizza,
it’s bad for your wallet and
is heavy on the stomach.”
FAQ on the subject of pizza sauce
San Marzano canned tomatoes are used in Neapolitan pizzerias.
Homemade pizza sauce made from crushed canned tomatoes will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
No, in Naples, the home of pizza, tomato sauce is not cooked for pizza. Here they use drained, finely crushed canned tomatoes.
Typically, around 80-100 g of tomato sauce is required for a pizza with a diameter of around 28-30 cm.
With 400 g San Marzano tomatoes, you can make about 4 pizzas, depending on the recipe.
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