Pizza Sauce for Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza
Published March 22, 2023
- Total Time
- About 5 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with their juices
- 1(6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 4medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2tablespoons dried Italian seasoning (see Tip)
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar, or to taste
- 2teaspoons red-wine vinegar, or to taste
- 2teaspoons garlic powder
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
76 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 301 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and pulse until mostly smooth but a few small bits of tomato remain. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Dried Italian seasoning is important here, as is garlic powder. If you prefer, you can use a mixture of any or all of oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, parsley and rosemary, dried or fresh, in place of the Italian seasoning.
Private Notes
Comments
Pay attention here, folks: the sauce is uncooked. That's crucial for a fresh tomato taste, which is crucial for Chicago pizza no matter what kind of crust. For a lighter touch on the tomatoes--making them more like one of the toppings--I use petite diced tomatoes plus vinegar, sugar, and herbs. I don't add salt or garlic, because there's so much garlic and salt in the sausage and the cheese. I distribute pinches of tomato atop the cheese & discard the remaining liquid.
"In Chicago, pizza sauce tends to have an intensely savory flavor that comes from cooking down canned tomatoes..." Read: Most Chicago pizza places cook down their tomato sauce. "The sauce cooks pretty thoroughly on the pizza, so cooking it in advance changes it only incrementally." Read: Kenji found that cooking it down isn't necessary, as it cooks on the pizza itself. It does change the flavor, but only marginally. If you want to cook it down, do so to your liking.
Lately I've been dumping the canned tomates into a sieve over a sauce pan and pressing them gently with a fork to release much of their watery juice. This gets reduced over heat by 2/3rds. Then the two parts go into in a bowl where the tomatoes get gently but thoroughly crushed with a fork only, to avoid breaking open the seeds with a spinning blade. I find a 400ml can, even of good quality san marzano tomatoes still contains about 100ml of very watery juice. Too wet as is for a fast oven.
I make this as written - no modifications. Use a scant 1/4 Cup on 12 in thin crust sourdough crust (Sam Sifton’s recipe). Baked at 500 on gas grill with pizza stone. The heat caramelizes the sauce to perfection. Pizza Friday is on!
Too sweet for me. I used 2 tsp sugar - next time 1.
Didn't have tomato paste so I had to simmer it down a little to thicken. Went extra heavy on the garlic cloves because I didn't have garlic powder. Also subbed in a 50-50 mix of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar for the red wine vinegar because (you guessed it) I didn't have the red wine vinegar. Still turned out incredibly tasty on a homemade pizza.
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