Traditional Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

400g / 14oz tinned crushed tomatoes

700g / 1.5lb tomato passata

few big pinches of salt

Directions:

Heat oil over low heat, pop in the garlic cloves and cook until golden.

Add tinned tomatoes, passata and salt.

Leave to simmer for a long time—like, 2 hours. Add more water if it becomes too thick. Stir occasionally and test for salt—don’t skimp!

Remove garlic cloves.

You can either use your sauce straight away or, if you have a glut of tomatoes, save it for another day.

For Preserving:

Pour pizza sauce into sterilised jars and securely place lid on.

Place jars in a large saucepan, fully cover them with water and boil for 25 minutes.

Leave to cool and store in pantry.

For Freezing:

Follow steps 1–10 of the Old-School Italian pizza base recipe.

Place the un-topped pizza base into the oven for 4–5 minutes.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Repeat with the rest of your dough.

Once finished, spread the pizza sauce evenly over each pizza base.

Wrap each base in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil.

Pop in the freezer.

When you’re ready to make pizza, remove pizza base from the freezer—no need to defrost—and add your choice of toppings. Pop your pizza in the oven at 220˚C / 425˚F / Gas Mark 7 for 10—15 minutes, until toppings are cooked and your cheese is melty.

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