Pizza Sauce recipe questions

[Jim Bob]

I have Peter R.'s recipe for his pizza sauce. Looks good, but my question is have you ever tried to add sauteed(in butter, of course!) shiitake mushrooms directly to the sauce? Also, I like to roast my chopped garlic clove(s) in olive oil prior to adding it to my sauce. Just have to be careful to only roast it lightly. Fresh garlic burns easily in the skillet. And trust me burnt garlic is very bitter and will ruin the sauce. I do use the San Marsano Tomatoes in the can from Costcos or Sams. I crush them roughly to leave small tomato pieces in the sauce. On the average I cook from 15-30 pizzas everytime I fire up my brick oven. Friends come out of the woodwork!! Ha. I get my Caputo 00 flour in 55 lb bags from Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. in Pittsburgh. About $1.00/lb plus shipping.
Appreciate any comments anyone has on the above. Have a great day.

Jim Bob

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

My pizza sauce is just 100% tomato sugo /passatta.(mainly crushed boiled tomatoes and a bit of salt)
I only add dried oregano as I make the pizza
Then cheese and what ever else .
It tastes fantastic......to me

[hodgey1]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Sauce to me is as individual a taste as any component of pizza. I searched for years for the perfect recipe that gave me the flavor I craved from my favorite brick oven pizza shop "De Lucia's" in Raritan Nj.

After I made many very good sauces over the years, and spent lots of money on Imported ingredients, none where great. Finally, one day out of pure laziness and time constraints I dumped out a can of Red Pack brand crushed tomatoes. I added a little basil, a little oregano and a little granulated garlic and spread it on my home made dough. Wow, it was amazing. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. I think sauce is another one of the less is more parts of pizza.

I know, I know. No San whatever's ? No saut?ed this and that? No cooking all day and only on a full moon. Yes, I just dumped out of a can of everyday crushed tomatoes, uncooked and spooned on to a fresh dough. I love it! But like I said from the beginning, it's all a matter of a persons individuals taste.

[Jim Bob]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Appreciate the responses from my post. I realize it's all about personal taste on the sauce and the ingredients. I guess I just like the taste of shrooms, basil, oregano, and onions in any pizza. If I can put them in the sauce, then I don't necessarily need to add those ingredients to the pizza. In all honesty the biggest problem that I run into when cooking my pizzas is keeping a good balance on the heat of the floor vs the roof of the oven.. I want to make the bottoms with a nice crust but not at the risk of burning the tops. When cooking many(15+) pizzas I need to make many pauses to warm oven floor without raising the ceiling temp too much. Tough assignment. But I wouldn't trade my Forno Bravo oven for any of my 10 grills!!!

Jim Bob

[Greenman]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Hey Jim Bob - It is about whatever floats your boat. My favourite so far has passata, grilled capsicum, garlic, onion and Italian herbs plus some cayenne chilli with the whole thing blended to a sauce. It is not a child friendly base but super tasty and does not need complicated toppings.

I generally add torn boccincini and it all makes a little bit of heaven from an inferno.

[kkgator]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Not only is sauce a matter of personal taste, but I agree with the less is more aspect when it comes to pizza. Sure, you can have 15 toppings on your pizza, but you seriously won't be able to pick out 1 topping from the rest. I use no more than 3-5 items counting cheese & sauce. My red sauce is a variation of P.Rhinehart's crushed tomato sauce. I use Dei Fratelli crushed tomatoes because they have the least amount of salt consistently over other brands of crushed tomatoes. Again, less is more here. I use fresh herbs in a squeezable tube form with roughly 1/2 tube to (1) 32oz can of tomatoes. I add either lemon juice or vinegar to brighten up the tomatoes. Sauce thickens in refrigerator. We also use this simple sauce on pasta. Talk about killing multiple birds with 1 stone.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Gudday
Tomatoes is the general base be it tomato paste with water,tinned, bottled fresh
With seed,without,the possibilities are more endless than the local tomato growing season.
The one thing that isn't a variable is the human taste bud.
We are all children when it comes down to it we first recognize salt and sweet.
Add a little sugar a little salt and just a simple "tomato" gets a new edge without the adds. Remember the temperature too .. Even the dog doesn't eat the cold fillet steak straight out if the fridge ... He will eat it when it comes up to room temp
4 tomato sauce ( can be a hot or cold soup as well)
1 can crushed tomato
1 table spoon tomato paste
1 large fresh tomatoe reseeded deskinned
1 tablespoon semi dried tomato
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Mix with stick blender .
This is very simple but complex flavours but you can add spices and herbs to achieve what you want. But it will work by itself.
Regards dave

[Jim Bob]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Thx Greenman, KKGator, & CobblerDave for your comments. I think I am ready now for Sat nite cook for 16 people!! Can I ask you three one more question-- When preparing the doughballs, which I weigh out to the nearest gram, I try to use strictly my hands to push out the dough flat, but usually preparing so many end up using the rolling pin!@!! I know, a cardinal sin, but When I make 8 doughballs from a 1000 gms of flour, they usually are about 210 gms each when I finally make the balls. Then after proofing in fridge for an hour, & bringing back to room temp, they seem to rubbery to spread out without a rolling pin. Obviously I may need to talk to a prof baker to see what the real problem is. But appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks guys,
Jim Bob

[hodgey1]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Then after proofing in fridge for an hour, & bringing back to room temp, they seem to rubbery to spread out without a rolling pin. Obviously I may need to talk to a prof baker to see what the real problem is. But appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks guys,
Jim Bob

Hi Jim Bob
I normal allow my dough to ferment for three to four days in the Refridge. I then bring it to room temp before the evenings festivities. After that process, it is extremely easy to stretch. When I don't preplan and need the dough right away, I up the amount of yeast and water temp a bit and it's ready in 3 ish hours and is still fairly easy to stretch.*

If you can, list your recipe and techniques to better trouble shoot your dough issue. It should be soft, supple and very easy to stretch and never need a rolling pin.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

If the doughballs are too "rubbery" then the gluten is over developed. Without your recipe and workflow it is hard to determine where it is happening, but it should not be.

If you do use a rolling pin, use it such that you do not "pinch" the edge of the dough. That is, roll from the center out, but stop at the edge. A small glass works better than a rolling pin as you can work from the center to the outer edges and not pinch the edges.

[azatty]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

In a blender:

Crushed tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
Fresh garlic
Sometimes a shallot
Salt
Pepper, sometimes crushed red
Red food coloring if anyone else is going to see it. All the greenery makes the sauce brownish.

Let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

[Jim Bob]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

I can tell you exactly what I do, since I follow Forno Bravo instructions e-book series Volume 2: Wood Fired Pizza that I downloaded several yrs ago and have been using ever since. If you can access,it is on pages 20 -26 on doughball preparation. If not I do the following: I weigh out the flour in batches of 1000 mgs(800 mgs in one bowl & 200 mgs in another).then add 35 mgs of kosher salt to the 800 mg bowl. Measure out 6 gms of active dry yeast and put in 650 mgs of water that has been heated to 100-105 degrees. After dissolving yeast in water, let it rest for 10 minutes. Then add to the 800 mg bowl. Using a spatula work it in just so all the flour is wet and sticky. Let it hydrate for 20 minutes, then knead the 800 mgs and work in remaining 200 mgs 5-7 minutes. Then put in bowl, cover with plastic wrap & a cloth towel for 2 hrs. Then weigh the risen dough & divide by 8. That is target weight for each doughball. Work them down popping the air bubbles & shape into balls. Then place in a pam'ed tupperware tub, cover, & place in fridge for several hrs. Then remove, let them reach room temp, & work down bubbles again. Then begin making 8-12" pizzas, working from center out. Brush dough lightly w/olive oil, spread sauce, & add ingredients and finally cheese. Sorry that was so wordy. Some batches work well, others don't. consistency is just not there.
JB

[Greenman]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

I have been using the FB Perfect Pizza Dough by Weight recipe on this site. I am happy with it and haven't messed around with it other than to work a bit of Italian Herbs into it once and that went ok.

When it comes to stretching the dough I found How To Hand Slap Pizza Crust - YouTube helped me a lot, no rolling pins involved and a much better outcome.

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Ive grabbed the dough out of the fridge after a 24 hour slow rise
Then rolled it out using a pin, while cold and let it sit and rise for an hour
Then cooked and it was excellent

[cobblerdave]

Re: Pizza Sauce recipe questions

Ive grabbed the dough out of the fridge after a 24 hour slow rise
Then rolled it out using a pin, while cold and let it sit and rise for an hour
Then cooked and it was excellent

Gudday
Totally agree its the 24 hrs in the fridge that does it. The resulting dough can then be teased to shape without spring back.
After 3 years still not a perfect round pizza though, recon the slightly misshape one taste better
Regards dave