My golden ring sauce is Cento Italian tomatoes in the 35 oz can with the red/white/green ‘Product of Italy’ flag to the left. Some months the white area says ‘San Marzano’, some months it don’t. Not All Purpose, not Organic, not Puree and especially not Chefs Cut. (Too salty!).
Its a very consistent tomato with not much salt added. Something I prefer do do myself in needed. I also find some months its sweeter. I can add a tspn or so of sugar if need be. Olive oil with almost browned garlic, food process the tomatoes, and a few basil leaves. 4/5 minutes on the oven top to just bubbling. Thats it.
Lately I have been adding about a cup of water after the last step. it helps keep the sauce on the pie from drying out in the oven since my pie is in there for 8 minutes at 515F.
Mike, I do red sauce two ways;
One with canned tomatoes that are drained before they are in a heated in a sauce pan to cook off excess fluid. You can squeeze them as well. I use canned or fresh San Marzano style homegrowns with salt and a little oregano for the Margherita pie,
For a more classic sauce with sausage, shrooms, pepperoni, etc… I brown minced garlic and onion in olive oil add oregano, tomato sauce and paste w/a little water to control the consistency.
If you’re getting a pie w/a soft center it could be related to stone/oven temps as well as the sauce/cheese moisture.
Nick, Its actually the opposite, I get a bit pastiness from the tomatoes. The water works well as it seems to return to normal consistency after the 8 minute cook time, which is what I was seeking. The stone is preheated for 30 minutes minimum, so the crust has not been an issue since lat year, when I got the new stone from WS.
I drain them through a mesh strainer, but do nothing else. That said, my pizza is more about the crust than the stuff on top (not that my crust is very good, but that is where I am focusing my efforts).
I like cento tomatoes too… I simply will not pay $6/can for san marzanos. There’s a brand I’ve found out here that I like even better than Cento called BioNaturae Precious Tuscan Whole Tomatoes. The label looks like this:
They go for a quick spin in the food processor with their juices (slimy old basil removed first) until they’re nicely chopped and fairly uniform but not pureed. Maybe 10 seconds? Then the whole thing goes into a strainer set over a large bowl. I don’t press on the solids or stir, I just let the liquid (which is almost clear) come out slowly, leaving all the tomatoey goodness behind. For a margherita, this is all. Chunks of fresh mozzarella go down, then tomatoes, then sea salt and grated cheese.
Pretty basic for me. These San Marzanos, which I can buy locally for $3/can, seeded and pureed, with a little salt added. Great, fresh, acidic/sweet flavor, not missing anything for me.
To maintain maximum fresh tomato flavor I apply zero heat to the sauce. I open the can (whole tomatoes), squeeze out as much juice from the can as possible but reserving the juice in case it is needed. I then use an immersion blender directly in the can and then add in my seasoning. The entire process takes a couple of minutes.
here’s my very simple pizza sauce prep (it’s just SM tomatoes drained & seeded)
I add stuff like garlic & herbs, S&P to the pie so the sauce is pretty plain
FWIW, my favorite place drains canned Red Pack plum tomatoes; chops them pretty finely in a food processor; adds salt and garlic powder and sparingly puts it on top of the cheese and toppings. I do, too. The “sauce” cooks as the pie does; the cheese on the dough rather than the sauce keeps the crust crisper.
I went to the Carmelina site, to look at the tomatoes, the video talked about and I think I will give them a try. I also like the idea that had some cherry tomatoes to try also. I can make some nice pasta sauce with these.
With the reinvention of my newest pies on the Weber I have found a new tomato topping (I am now cooking my pies at 600 plus degrees). It’t not really a sauce anymore. Its Tomato passata from Cirio. Beautiful balance that’s needs nothing at all.
Fresh tasting, sweet and super balanced. I get it locally for about $2.29 a jar, good for 2 pies.
We made pizza for family movie night this past Sunday before settling in to watch the Academy Awards.
Our dough for crust was 500 g Caputo flour, 250 g filtered water (warmed a bit in the microwave), 2 TSP active yeast, 1 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS wildflower honey. The yeast was bloomed in the warmed water and then all other ingredients were added in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. Run on “4” until the dough came together. The dough was allowed to rise and proof for about six hours.
Sauce consisted of a can of Cento San Marzano, D.O.P. tomatoes, three cloves of roasted garlic, fresh oregano from the garden, salt and pepper. All ingredients were pulsed in a bar blender and simmered for about 30 minutes.