Tavern-Style Paste-Heavy Sauce
Tomato-paste forward, herby, slightly spicy. Concentrated so the cracker crust stays crisp.
Intro
Tomato-paste forward, slightly sweet, herby, with a kick. Thicker and more concentrated than NY pizza sauce because tavern crust is so thin it can't absorb a watery sauce without sogging. Garlic powder and onion powder, not fresh — fresh garlic reads wrong here. The tomato paste is doing the structural work; don't skimp.
Ingredients
note · ½ × 28oz can.
note · ~1 small 6oz can. Doing the structural work — don't skimp.
note · ~1 tsp. Powder, not fresh — fresh garlic reads wrong here.
note · ~1 tsp.
note · ~1 tsp.
note · ~1 tsp.
note · ~½ tsp.
The process
- 1
Combine
Combine the crushed tomatoes 400 g, tomato paste 90 g, oil 15 g, garlic powder 3 g, onion powder 3 g, oregano 2 g, dried basil 1 g, sugar 8 g, salt 5 g, and red pepper 1 g in a saucepan.
- 2
Smooth it
Whisk or blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
- 3
Reduce
Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook 10–15 minutes, stirring often, until thick enough to sit up on a spoon. Reduces to about half the starting volume.
⏱ Reduce13:00 - 4
Taste & cool
Should read as noticeably sweet, slightly spicy, herby. Adjust accordingly. Cool before using.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipFor Quad Cities-style, add 1 tsp molasses + ½ tsp cayenne to this base.
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