Crushed Tomato Sauce

This is our sauce of choice for pizza, calzones, or pizza rolls. It’s a bold, strong flavored sauce – there’s nothing shy about it. It can make even mediocre dough taste good. Plus, it’s super quick and easy since there’s no cooking involved. So, take five minutes and make this slightly chunky sauce. Your taste buds will thank you.

h3. Crushed Tomato Sauce

Peter Reinhart in American Pie

Makes 4 cups (enough for 1 recipe of dough or 4-6 family-sized pizzas for us, depending on how saucy I’m feeling)

• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder, or 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice, or a combination
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients, starting with 1/2 teaspoon salt and adding more to taste. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. (Also freezes well.)

This post is part of a series of posts on pizza. You can find the Americana dough here, the Roman pizza dough here, or the post on shaping dough here.