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Pizza Sauce?

QDude
QDude Posts: 1,052
edited September 2012 in EggHead Forum
I am going to try my first pizza this weekend on the XL.  I have the flour and cheese figured out but not the sauce.  Any recommendations?  Thanks!

Northern Colorado Egghead since 2012.

XL BGE and a KBQ.

Comments

  • I usually take an immersion blender to a can of San marzano tomatoes. Easy and still has a nice 'fresh' taste once cooked on the pie.
  • I mix homemade tomato sauce (romas, olive oil, white wine, s&p) and BBQ sauce. If you want simple, you can just pick up a can of tomato sauce and mix it with your favorite BBQ sauce... I guess that is if you want BBQ pizza! :)

    Other than that, my wife makes a killer pizza sauce. Not sure the exact recipe, but I'll try and coax it out of her and post it here with some prep pictures. It's fantastic!
    Marketing/Media Guy for All Things Barbecue
    Large EGG in Stainless Cart
    Yoder Smokers YS640 Custom
    Weber Kettle 22.5" Classic
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    edited September 2012
    If you want to make your own:

    http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1144727&catid=1

    Pizza, Sauce, RRP
     
     
    Based on a recipe from BGE board but altered for our tastes. It started out as a salt free one that an egger named Spin posted here 11 years ago. Since then I've tweaked it a bit to our liking
     
    INGREDIENTS:  
    1 1 Ozs Pkg    Fresh basil  
    3 Tbs    dried basil  
    1 1/2 Tsps    Dried oregano  
    3/4 cup    chardonnay  
    3/4 cup    fresh minced onion  
     
    3   tea minced garlic  
    3 Tbs    extra virgin olive oil  
    18   Roma tomatoes each cut into 8 pieces  
    1 6 Ozs Can    tomato paste  
    2 Tsps    California style garlic salt  
    1/2 Tsps    Freshly ground pepper (about 12 good half grinds PER layer)  
     
    PROCEDURE:
    IMPORTANT:
    1 first step: steep the dried basil and dried oregano in the wine for 20 minutes
    2 In a skillet sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until onions turn translucent, stirring frequently.
    3 Using a Dutch oven add tomatoes, paste, onions/garlic and remaining ingredients. I put them in so there are three layers. Cover pot and simmer for 1 hour. Remove form heat and puree in a blender until smooth. Pour back into the Dutch oven minus the lid this time and simmer until the sauce thickens to a consistency of cold catsup.
    4 Package in ½ cup quantities using ZipLoc snack bags. Freeze. Yield will depend on the size of your Romas, but normally this recipe is good for 9 to 12 bags. My pizzas are 12” in diameter so you might want to adjust according to what size you make.
     
     Recipe Type
    Sauce
     
     Cooking Tips
    Hint: During the thickening stage cover the pot with a spatter guard as that sauce really pops when it erupts and can make a mess of your stove. BTW this sauce is also good with bread sticks.


    2011/09/21--RRP--Thanks for posting it for me, Richard! I have continued to tweak this recipe. I've found that instead of 3 teaspoons of minced garlic we much prefer it to be chopped garlic, but not minced which is equal to 5 nice cloves. Also White Zinfandel instead of chardonnay seems to blend better. BTW in August I made 2 batches while the homegrown ROMAs were available and that effort produced 25 bags for pizzas into next year. Trust me this sauce freezes very well!

     
       

  • rickHP
    rickHP Posts: 49
    edited September 2012

    Most important is the quality of the tomatoes. I like Muir Glen ground or crushed tomatoes, or else Pomi chopped tomatoes. Be careful of expensive San Marzano tomatoes that are not actually San Marzano DOP. Unless you can get top quality fresh Romas, canned can be a better choice.

    It's very simple. I saute 1/4 to 1/2 a chopped medium onion plus 3-4 chopped garlic cloves in some olive oil until the onion is soft. I then dump in 2 cans or 2 packs (if Pomi) of the tomatoes and sometimes a teaspoon or so of tomato paste. Simmer until reduced by about a quarter. taste, and if it's too acid, stir in a little sugar. Throw in some chopped basil if you have it near the end.

    That's it. Can be used for pizza or pasta. Freezes pretty well, but can be a little watery when defrosted, depending on how much you reduced it. I make a batch and portion it in quart ziplock bags that I freeze flat for future use.

    .

  • 70chevelle
    70chevelle Posts: 280
    edited September 2012
    Most times I will take fresh romas from my garden, peel and crush. Add some salt, pepper and pizza spice (penzeys or homemade) and use raw. Very bright and fresh. Last week I tried a new recipe. Take 6-7 romas, 1/2 an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and a good drizzle of olive oil. Roast this on the egg for an hour and a half or until everything is soft. Peel tomatoes as best you can and put all in blender, processor or use immersion blender until smooth. It turned out excellent and very easy
  • I use small can of tomato paste, small can of tomato sauce, touch of garlic powder , Italian seasoning, sweet basil, sugar or honey, little pepper, Kraft shaker parm cheese. Most just add to it taste good. Leave in fridge to let flavors blend.
  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    Doesn't have to be red sauce, although we like red sauce.

    We like to use a white sauce from time to time. It works great with pizza combos like spinach-grilled onions-fresh garlic-artichokes. Recipes on the web for alfredo sauces work well or we've also used sour cream in a 'quick pinch'.

    We also use BBQ sauce, usually Bone Suckin' Sauce when we have left over pulled pork or grilled chicken. Amazing!
  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    I like the fresh taste of crushed San Marzanos as well. Here is what I do.

    2 tbs olive oil
    2 pressed or minced garlic cloves
    1 28 oz can of crushed san marzono
    2 tbs of fresh basil
    salt and pepper to taste

    heat oil in skillet to brown garlic, add tomatoes and basil to heat through. salt and pepper to taste.
  • Good luck with the pizza, I'm sure it (they) will be great whatever you do. 
    I'm pretty simple with sauce, right out of a can, tomato sauce. Add some garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasons as the mood fits. Maybe some leftover pasta sauce. 
    Our family tends to use the crust and sauce as the base for the toppings, that's where we add the sizzle. To each his own - have fun with it. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • bigphil
    bigphil Posts: 1,390
    we use a good quality can of crushed tomatoes and sprinkle on garlic and other spices once we spread the sauce on the pizza then the cheese and toppings 
    Large Big Green Egg , XL Big Green Egg . BBQ Guru, Weber Kettle, Weber Q grill for road trips.
  • Brownie said:
    I like the fresh taste of crushed San Marzanos as well. Here is what I do.

    2 tbs olive oil
    2 pressed or minced garlic cloves
    1 28 oz can of crushed san marzono
    2 tbs of fresh basil
    salt and pepper to taste

    heat oil in skillet to brown garlic, add tomatoes and basil to heat through. salt and pepper to taste.
    Pretty close to what we make except that we cook the garlic clove in this little cast iron garlic shaped thing on the egg.  Then when we make the pizza sauce we squeeze the roasted garlic into the sauce.

    Gerhard
  • Aviator
    Aviator Posts: 1,757
    has anyone seen the sauce Papa Murphy uses? Its thick like a paste and very tasty. Does not make the dough all wet and soggy. Wonder if i can buy something similar.

    ______________________________________________ 

    Large and Small BGE, Blackstone 36 and a baby black Kub.

    Chattanooga, TN.

     

  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    gerhardk said:
    Brownie said:
    I like the fresh taste of crushed San Marzanos as well. Here is what I do.

    2 tbs olive oil
    2 pressed or minced garlic cloves
    1 28 oz can of crushed san marzono
    2 tbs of fresh basil
    salt and pepper to taste

    heat oil in skillet to brown garlic, add tomatoes and basil to heat through. salt and pepper to taste.
    Pretty close to what we make except that we cook the garlic clove in this little cast iron garlic shaped thing on the egg.  Then when we make the pizza sauce we squeeze the roasted garlic into the sauce.

    Gerhard
    @gerhardk   I like that idea. Do you just squeeze it by hand? How long do you roast the garlic? Thanks.
  • It takes an hour + at about 350º F, after an hour just give it a poke with a knife or fork it should be soft.  Yes we squeeze it by hand, the flavour of the garlic changes, it is almost sweet.  We cut the top off the clove, then a sprinkle a little olive oil and on the egg it goes.  You can spread the roasted garlic directly on bread or add it to butter to make garlic butter.  We found the roaster at our egg dealer and it looks exactly like the one in the photo below.

    Gerhard

    image
  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    Thanks for the ideas!
  • bodski
    bodski Posts: 463
    Lots of great recommendations here. For what it's worth, if you're looking for something already prepared, we've had really good luck with MIDs Italian Sauaage. It's actually a pasta sauce, but it works great on pizza. Plus, if there's any left over, you can more options for using it than pizza sauce. They do make a pizza sauce, which is very good, but we like the other stuff better.

    Cincinnati

    LBGE, Weber Kettle

  • Another premade pizza sauce that I use in a pinch is Don Peppino's.  I get a big tin at Sam's for around $4 and it's pretty darn good.  I'll still add dash or two of Penzey's pizza spice.  It's a good pizza sauce regardless of the price. 

  • Brownie's sauce is a good recipe if you like making Margherita Pizza, basically the only toppings are mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil.  It is one of my favourites and it bakes best really hot for about 6 minutes, so the egg is an ideal oven for it.  We make other pizzas as well but that is pretty much the first one I make every time.  Another thing I learned was that less toppings usually makes a better pizza. Usually we limit the toppings to one meat, two veggies, parmesan cheese, mozzarella  and sauce.  I like rough chopping the mushrooms and peppers which adds to the taste.  For mozzarella I like using the type that comes packaged in the brine and just crumble it on top, it seems to caramelize better than the shredded type.  But some people just prefer more toppings and I will make it even if I recommend they try less toppings.

    Gerhard

    Gerhard