Why It Works
Incorporating butter into the sauce smooths out the harshness of the tomatoes, resulting in a richer and more satisfying mouthfeel. Combining it with extra-virgin olive oil introduces a peppery taste.
Using whole peeled tomatoes typically ensures a higher quality product, leading to superior outcomes. They also break down more effectively than diced tomatoes, which are processed to retain their shape, and are more uniform than crushed tomatoes.
In contrast to Neapolitan pizzas, which usually feature a straightforward, uncooked sauce made from fresh or canned tomatoes and salt, New York by-the-slice pizzas utilize a heavily seasoned cooked sauce.
The secret to an excellent New York-style sauce lies in achieving a balance of sweetness, acidity, and heat, complemented by a distinct herbal foundation. Additionally, the sauce must possess a texture that is thin enough to spread easily, yet thick enough to prevent the pizza from becoming soggy during the customary fold-and-carry.
You can execute the simplest recipes in a New York minute: just purée tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, and Italian seasoning, then simmer it over a low flame. The outcome is quite satisfactory—definitely an improvement over overly sweet and herbaceous canned pizza sauces—but the objective here at The Food Lab is to achieve something beyond merely "not bad." We aim for excellence. It’s time to get into the kitchen.
A Blend of Fats Builds Flavor
Most pizza sauces begin with a foundation of extra-virgin olive oil, which is acceptable, but there exists a superior alternative. Is there anyone in the culinary world who has not yet encountered Marcella Hazan's remarkably simple and delectable tomato sauce made with onion and butter?
This sauce is created by gently simmering tomatoes, butter, and a couple of onion halves (which are discarded after cooking), resulting in an exceptionally smooth, complex, and flavorful sauce.
For years, French chefs have recognized that incorporating butter into a sauce can help soften the rough edges and provide a richer, fuller mouthfeel. This pizza sauce exemplifies that principle. By simply substituting one of the two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil I was using with unsalted butter, I was able to enhance the sweetness and complexity of the sauce.
A rich and intricate sauce.
For many years, French culinary experts have acknowledged that the addition of butter to a sauce can refine its texture, leading to a more luxurious and enjoyable mouthfeel. This pizza sauce serves as a perfect illustration of that concept. By replacing one of the two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil with unsalted butter, I was able to amplify the sweetness, depth, and creaminess of my sauce without any additional effort. (I kept some olive oil for its peppery taste.)
Furthermore, I chose to apply Marcella's onion technique, which further enhanced the sweetness.
Fresh Herbs Are Not Always Superior
Most recipes recommend using dried oregano.
I discovered that as long as I ensured to cook the dried herbs long enough to soften their texture (I sauté them right from the start in the oil-butter mixture), the flavor I achieved was just as good as that from fresh—and significantly more economical and convenient.
Basil, however, must be added fresh. I attempted to incorporate it chopped at the end, as I typically do with most fresh herbs to preserve their flavor, but found that it was not suitable for pizza sauce. It was more effective to simply add whole sprigs while the sauce was simmering and remove them at the conclusion.
Purée Your Own Canned Tomatoes
I was certain that I wanted to utilize canned tomatoes, as they are much more reliable throughout the year. (The idea of making a fresh tomato sauce from tasteless winter tomatoes is unsettling.) But which tomatoes should I select? Almost every brand offers five varieties:
Whole peeled tomatoes are the least processed option. They consist of whole tomatoes that have been peeled (either through steaming or lye treatment), then packed in either tomato purée or juice. Those packed in juice are less processed, making them more versatile. Tomatoes packed in purée will invariably have a "cooked" flavor, even if used directly from the can.
Diced tomatoes consist of whole peeled tomatoes that have been machine-diced and subsequently packed in juice or purée. The primary distinction from whole tomatoes is that diced tomatoes are often treated with calcium chloride, a firming agent that assists in maintaining the shape of the dice within the can. However, the downside is that calcium chloride renders the tomatoes excessively firm, preventing them from breaking down adequately during cooking. If you intend to use diced tomatoes, seek brands that do not contain calcium chloride.
Crushed tomatoes can vary significantly between different brands. There are currently no regulations governing the labeling of crushed tomatoes, meaning that one brand's "crushed" product may be a chunky mash, while another's could resemble a nearly smooth purée. Due to this inconsistency, it is generally advisable to avoid crushed products and instead crush your own whole tomatoes.
Tomato purée is a cooked and strained tomato product that serves as a convenient shortcut for quick-cooking sauces. However, sauces made with purée often lack the depth of flavor that comes from the slow reduction of a less-processed tomato product. Therefore, it is best to leave the purée on the shelf for this particular sauce.
Tomato paste is essentially concentrated tomato juice. After cooking fresh tomatoes, all larger solids are strained out, and the resulting juice is then slowly reduced to a moisture content of 76% or less. While it is excellent for imparting a robust umami flavor to stews and braises, it is not suitable for this sauce.
Thus, diced tomatoes are too firm, crushed tomatoes are too variable, and both tomato purée and paste are overly cooked. This led me to choose whole canned tomatoes, specifically those packed in juice. I blended them briefly with my immersion blender to purée them immediately after adding them to the pot. (A food processor or food mill would also work effectively, though they are more challenging to clean if you do not possess an immersion blender.)
Final Steps for Balanced Flavor
The ideal tomatoes should possess high levels of both acidity and sweetness; the finest sauces will also exhibit these flavors, but they must be balanced. Slow cooking is the most effective method to achieve this.
Canned tomatoes typically have citric acid added to enhance their acidity. Gradually reducing the puréed tomatoes on the stovetop not only develops new flavor compounds, enriching the sauce's complexity, but also eliminates excess water, thereby intensifying the existing flavors.
Another reason to take it slow: If one is not particularly cautious, high heat can lead to undesirable browning, resulting in roasted, caramelized notes in the sauce. This is not ideal. I tend to be somewhat careless, so I mitigate this risk by maintaining a low heat.
After an hour of gentle simmering, the sauce was almost perfect, yet lacked a few essential components. A touch of extra sugar helped to counterbalance the newly heightened acidity, while a dash of pepper flakes introduced a mild level of heat. Preparing a new batch and incorporating the pepper flakes to sauté in the butter-olive oil mixture from the outset improved it even further.
Ultimately, I achieved a sauce with the perfect flavor balance for my New York-style pizzas. It was sweet, slightly spicy, and intensely savory, with a texture that blended seamlessly with the cheese, as a good pizza should. And unsurprisingly, it also pairs well with pasta.
Special Equipment
Food mill, food processor, or immersion blender.
OTHER RECIPES
Use both fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. A great pizza sauce recipe to try !
Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 Cup chopped onions
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 3 Italian plum tomatoes, peeled and minced
* 3 oz. canned tomato paste
* 2 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
* 1/4 Black Pepper
* 1/2 Stick Unsalted Butter, sliced
Instructions
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
2. Sauté the onions in oil for 1 minute.
3. Stir in garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, forabout 5 minutes.
6. Reduce the heat to low and stir in butter pieces.
7. When the butter is half melted, remove the skillet from heat and continue stirring until thoroughly incorporated.
The pizza sauce recipe is ready.....
Cooked Pizza Sauce Video :
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