Best Tomatoes for Pizza

What are the best tomatoes for pizza sauce ?

Is it the sauce, cheese or dough or all the above?  I always feel that’s it  all the above but today lets focus on the tomatoes, a little history and some pizza sauce.

It is believed that the history of tomatoes can be traced to the Aztecs, back to 700 A.D. The Fruit was brought to Europe by earlier explores and has been there long  before the inception of the pizza in the late 1800s. It became  the main part  of the 3 ingredients used for the first official pizza known as the Margarita Pizza Originating in Naples Italy. The “pizza” was created in honor of the Queen and it  represented the Italian flag colors: mozzarella cheese for white, basil topping for green, and tomato sauce for the red.

The Best Tomatoes for Pizza

Italian Plum tomatoes are truly  ideal for making a great pizza sauce. Actually, the best tomatoes for pizza sauce  is considered to be San Marzano Tomatoes . Grown in the region of San Marzano Italy  and cultivated on hillsides with Mt. Vesuvius’ soil. The ultimate tomato off the vine!

But, since everyone doesn’t live around Vesuvius,  it’s good to know that canned San Marzano tomatoes are available in most supermarkets . Why are they considered to be the best ?  Because of their bright red  color, slight  gelatin around the seeds,  pear shaped and thick walls. They are Sweet to the taste, low acid , and have   little quantity of water and seeds in general.

Preparing the Sauce No Cooking!

Pour the can of tomatoes into a bowl. I crush them with my  hands,  or you can  use  food mill  to get a beautiful velvety textured  sauce . Either way it works well.  If your tomatoes have a lot of liquid, (and some times they do) gently squeeze the plumbs so that they rerelease some of the water before crushing  or milling them and discard the water.

The juice that they are packed in should have some good body and also not be to thin. There are a lot of brands of San Marzano tomatoes some are better then others some more watery as well.  It is best to try a few and find the one you love best!

I like Basil in my sauce not oregano.  The oregano is to strong and over powering to mix with the sauce.

Here Is A Simple But Great Recipe

• 1 -28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes
•  6  Basil  leaves chiffonade  (Here’s all you need to know about making a  of basil: stack, roll, slice. Stack the leaves on top of each other, gently roll them into a cigar, and then use a sharp knife to slice them into thin ribbons. Nothing more than that!)
•  Sea salt  1- t spoon.
• Olive oil (extra virgin) 1 table spoon.
• Chopped Garlic  (2) T- spoons.
• Mix well and keep refrigerated until ready to cook with.

Now Your pizza sauce should taste sweet and delicate use it lightly and your pizzas will have a beautiful flavor.