Where Can I Purchase Pizza Sauce

zenno · 11-03-2014 3:21pm #1

Hello all.

I was thinking of making my own pizza's but I'd like to know if anyone here knows where I can buy good pizza sauce in the supermarkets ?.

Thanks

Zenno

Gordon · 11-03-2014 3:24pm

Do you mean the tomato stuff? If I can't wait to make my own I'll just buy some passata and maybe mix it in with tomato paste.

zenno · 11-03-2014 3:27pm

It's just the base tomato pizza sauce I was looking for, but can't see any place selling it.

Is the passata runny ?, I would need it a bit thicker I'd say.

Gordon · 11-03-2014 3:32pm

I use passata like this: http://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/getCategories.do?tags=%7C105651%7C102705%7C102637%7C102679%7C102684%7C108397&dnr=y

You can get it in bottles or cartons.

quaalude · 11-03-2014 3:34pm

I've tried to make my own pizza many times, and the topping and dough are great, but the tomato sauce always lets it down. I can never get the taste or consistency quite right.

I've recently discovered Mutti pizza sauce, it is gorgeous, with only good ingredients:
2ae6e08e29c951598f12889cbbce3029.mutti-pizza-sauce.jpg

2ae6e08e29c951598f12889cbbce3029.mutti-pizza-sauce.jpg

They have it in loads of places - the grocers in Sandymount (about €2 a tin) and the grocers a few doors up from Whelans on Wexford St (€1.50 a tin) are two.

I'm just adding here - I never buy jars or packets, I make every sauce i eat from scratch. I just can't do pizza sauce for some reason!

The Hill Billy · 11-03-2014 3:37pm

If you are looking for a thicker sauce than passata - just throw a tin of tomatoes in a blender, maybe with a clove of garlic & a squeeze of tomato puree. To get it even thicker - you could cook it down for a while in a pan over a low/medium heat.

Davidth88 · 11-03-2014 3:38pm

make it........

Chop garlic/small onion , into a saucepan and fry off .... then bung in Passata ( Aldi/ Lidl do ones for 70c or thereabouts )

Bring to boil , and then simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce it ( ie thicken it )

Much cheaper than ready made.

( maybe add seasoning , and possibly a pinch of sugar to counteract the bitterness of the tomatoes . )

I do this when I make my own pizzas

zenno · 11-03-2014 3:38pm

Great stuff. I'll try both of them so.

Thanks for the information.

Zenno

zenno · 11-03-2014 3:41pm

Davidth88 wrote: »

make it........

Chop garlic/small onion , into a saucepan and fry off .... then bung in Passata ( Aldi/ Lidl do ones for 70c or thereabouts )

Bring to boil , and then simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce it ( ie thicken it )

Much cheaper than ready made.

( maybe add seasoning , and possibly a pinch of sugar to counteract the bitterness of the tomatoes . )

I do this when I make my own pizzas

Very good. That would be the best way to go, so I'll try making it tomorrow if this other stuff is not up to scratch. Cheers.

The Hill Billy · 11-03-2014 3:50pm

Good on you, zenno. And if you are going to make it yourself - you can also experiment by adding other flavourings to your sauce - eg, oregano, basil, balsamic, chili, etc.

thehouses · 11-03-2014 3:53pm

I use tubes of tomato puree from supervalue.

Irish Stones · 11-03-2014 3:57pm

quaalude wrote: »

I've tried to make my own pizza many times, and the topping and dough are great, but the tomato sauce always lets it down. I can never get the taste or consistency quite right.

I've recently discovered Mutti pizza sauce, it is gorgeous, with only good ingredients:

They have it in loads of places - the grocers in Sandymount (about €2 a tin) and the grocers a few doors up from Whelans on Wexford St (€1.50 a tin) are two.

I'm just adding here - I never buy jars or packets, I make every sauce i eat from scratch. I just can't do pizza sauce for some reason!

Excellent choice! This is absolutely the best sauce ever!
Mutti makes different products from tomatoes, passata, paste and cans of sliced or chunked tomatoes.
I would not try anything else.
And I speak from the top of my being Italian

Melendez · 11-03-2014 4:02pm

This post has been deleted.

JonKelleher · 11-03-2014 4:04pm

I make my own using tomatoes, garlic, vinegar and some herbs; all thrown in a blender. It's delicious.

quaalude · 11-03-2014 4:08pm

Melendez wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yeah - those cheapo Tesco mozz balls are deadly.

Melendez wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Uncooked - that's fascinating. Maybe cooking the sauce for ages and ages is where I've been going wrong. Cheers!

the beer revolu · 11-03-2014 6:05pm

If going down the making it yourself route I can't recommend this enough. Use good quality tinned tomatoes, though.

I came across this recipe for 'authentic' pizza sauce in a magazine.
Was doubtful of the recipe but tried it anyway and was very pleasantly surprised!

Get a heavy pan (I use a cast iron frying pan) and heat it till really hot.
Add a couple of table spoons of olive oil (it will smoke).
Throw in a tin of tomatoes, a clove of chopped garlic and a teaspoon of dried (not fresh) oregano. It will splutter.
Keep heat high and allow to reduce to something a little looser than tomato purée - this will take 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

This just really works on pizza.

stevenmu · 12-03-2014 1:01pm

Davidth88 wrote: »

make it........

Chop garlic/small onion , into a saucepan and fry off .... then bung in Passata ( Aldi/ Lidl do ones for 70c or thereabouts )

Bring to boil , and then simmer for 15-20 mins to reduce it ( ie thicken it )

Much cheaper than ready made.

( maybe add seasoning , and possibly a pinch of sugar to counteract the bitterness of the tomatoes . )

I do this when I make my own pizzas

A little drop of honey works great instead of the sugar, adds a nice richness to it.

Davidth88 · 12-03-2014 1:18pm

stevenmu wrote: »

A little drop of honey works great instead of the sugar, adds a nice richness to it.

True , I have used that too ......... I was taught by my Mum that if you cook with tomato puree or passata than you add a small amount of sugar.

OP, how did you get on ? I love making pizzas with the kids , the fun bit is leaving the dough to prove and they are amazed to see how much it has grown.

To anyone on this forum ....... I have a Pizza Stone , but I really like thin thin thin pizza , I can't work out a way of transferring the constructed pizza to the stone ( the stone has to be hot already ) .

I end up using a pre heated tray.

the beer revolu · 12-03-2014 2:51pm

Davidth88 wrote: »

True , I have used that too ......... I was taught by my Mum that if you cook with tomato puree or passata than you add a small amount of sugar.

OP, how did you get on ? I love making pizzas with the kids , the fun bit is leaving the dough to prove and they are amazed to see how much it has grown.

To anyone on this forum ....... I have a Pizza Stone , but I really like thin thin thin pizza , I can't work out a way of transferring the constructed pizza to the stone ( the stone has to be hot already ) .

I end up using a pre heated tray.

I've had this problem too. What I do now is use a holy pizza tray on top of the stone and after a couple of minutes it's easy to transfer directly to the stone.

rubadub · 12-03-2014 3:15pm

zenno wrote: »

Is the passata runny ?, I would need it a bit thicker I'd say.

It is too runny for my liking, but its seived tomato so no bits. My easy mix requiring no blender or cooking down is passata mixed with tomato puree from a tube, and some ketchup if it needs sugar, handed down to me by a family of 3 generations of michelin star Italian chefs. :pac:;)

Davidth88 · 12-03-2014 3:32pm

rubadub wrote: »

It is too runny for my liking, but its seived tomato so no bits. My easy mix requiring no blender or cooking down is passata mixed with tomato puree from a tube, and some ketchup if it needs sugar, handed down to me by a family of 3 generations of michelin star Italian chefs. :pac:;)

That's why I reduce it right down .

But I tell you what , you method is almost certainly as good and less messy ..... reducing tomato sauce is a messy business ( it always spits onto cooker etc even at lowest heat )

schemingbohemia · 12-03-2014 4:07pm

quaalude wrote: »

I've tried to make my own pizza many times, and the topping and dough are great, but the tomato sauce always lets it down. I can never get the taste or consistency quite right.

I've recently discovered Mutti pizza sauce, it is gorgeous, with only good ingredients:

They have it in loads of places - the grocers in Sandymount (about €2 a tin) and the grocers a few doors up from Whelans on Wexford St (€1.50 a tin) are two.

I'm just adding here - I never buy jars or packets, I make every sauce i eat from scratch. I just can't do pizza sauce for some reason!

Is that the (mostly) fruit and vegetable place northbound on same side of the road or the Fresh across the road?

Must get me some of this.

zenno · 12-03-2014 5:59pm

Davidth88 wrote: »

True , I have used that too ......... I was taught by my Mum that if you cook with tomato puree or passata than you add a small amount of sugar.

OP, how did you get on ? I love making pizzas with the kids , the fun bit is leaving the dough to prove and they are amazed to see how much it has grown.

To anyone on this forum ....... I have a Pizza Stone , but I really like thin thin thin pizza , I can't work out a way of transferring the constructed pizza to the stone ( the stone has to be hot already ) .

I end up using a pre heated tray.

I made a nice big pizza using the passata sauce, it was nice, but nothing spectacular, so I'm going to do the beer revolu recipe tomorrow as I have all the ingredients. I'll purchase some good quality tinned tomatoes and try this out tomorrow for sure.

I couldn't find the other Mutti pizza sauce in the store, but I'm really not bothered as I would rather try out some recipe's. Will see what it tastes like tomorrow with the beer revolu's recipe

That passata tastes ok but it reminds me of salsa sauce dip.

quaalude · 13-03-2014 9:20am

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Is that the (mostly) fruit and vegetable place northbound on same side of the road or the Fresh across the road?

Must get me some of this.

Fruit and veg place - lovely shop!

schemingbohemia · 13-03-2014 11:14am

Yeah popped in there last night, sadly they had none of the tins there, but it's a great shop.

stevenmu · 13-03-2014 11:56am

"Evergreen" is the name of that shop btw, very good shop indeed.

quaalude · 13-03-2014 1:23pm

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Yeah popped in there last night, sadly they had none of the tins there, but it's a great shop.

Boo! Did you ask if they were getting it back in?

Boskowski · 13-03-2014 1:26pm

Yes you can it's called 'peeled plum tomatoes'. It comes in tins for xbout 39c.
Empty into bowl. Add 1 clove of garlic a dash of dried basil a bit of pepper a bit of salt. Blend.
You won't get a better pizza sauce.

Companies making a fortune these days cos people don't know anymore how to dice an onion or mix flour and water or 'don't have the time'. Not having a go only saying.

schemingbohemia · 13-03-2014 1:32pm

quaalude wrote: »

Boo! Did you ask if they were getting it back in?

No, but he said they didn't have any in stock "at the moment" so I'm presuming he'll get it in again.....

shrapnel222 · 13-03-2014 1:43pm

i use the jamie oliver tomato and chilli as a base. works well and isn't too runny at all

Johnny_Fontane · 13-03-2014 3:55pm

totally second the mutti pizza sauce.

Again for all things Italian (and I'm like a broken record on this, apologies), you need to head to Little Italy in Smithfield. They do deliver aswell around Ireland and have an online shop. We have homemade pizza probably twice a month with my two lads so I generally stock up. You get 10% off the price of a case (of 12).

A can is €1.40 and it works great as part of a tomato based pasta dish for what you dont use.

I've made my own, but this is really great stuff. It just takes one decent sized step out of the pizza making process and is delicious.

Boskowski · 13-03-2014 6:06pm

I feel my recipe above hasn't been viewed with the seriousness it deserves.

It probably doesn't sound complicated or elaborate enough. But I'm totally serious. In cooking less is often better than more. Pizza and pasta are cheap dishes and not meant to be elaborate.

I have this from an Italian pizza baker who used to go out with my gf's friend.

Tin of tomatoes. 1 clove of garlic. 1/4 teaspoon salt. 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. 1/2 teaspoon basil. Blend. Finished.

You will never need another pizza sauce recipe.

the beer revolu · 13-03-2014 6:13pm

Boskowski wrote: »

I feel my recipe above hasn't been viewed with the seriousness it deserves.
It probably doesn't sound complicated or elaborate enough. But I'm totally serious. In cooking less is often better than more. Pizza and pasta are cheap dishes and not meant to be elaborate.

I have this from an Italian pizza baker who used to go out with my gf's friend.

Tin of tomatoes. 1 clove of garlic. 1/4 teaspoon salt. 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. 1/2 teaspoon basil. Blend. Finished.

You will never need another pizza sauce recipe.

Do you want a medal?

That's too watery for a pizza sauce - but that's just my opinion.
You clearly know better.

Johnny_Fontane · 13-03-2014 6:34pm

Boskowski wrote: »

I feel my recipe above hasn't been viewed with the seriousness it deserves.
It probably doesn't sound complicated or elaborate enough. But I'm totally serious. In cooking less is often better than more. Pizza and pasta are cheap dishes and not meant to be elaborate.

I have this from an Italian pizza baker who used to go out with my gf's friend.

Tin of tomatoes. 1 clove of garlic. 1/4 teaspoon salt. 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. 1/2 teaspoon basil. Blend. Finished.

You will never need another pizza sauce recipe.

All depends on the quality of your tin of tomatoes. 90% of the stuff they sell in supermarkets is watery muck. Your Italian pizza baker friend, no doubt, buys good quality tins of tomatoes.

Boskowski · 13-03-2014 10:09pm

I don't know I just buy the cheap stuff from Lidl which is at least Italian I suppose, but I dont pay any particular attention to it. I'm pretty sure restaurants by the cheapest stuff they can get.

As for the watery issue and as a disclaimer I have to say I like my pizzas Italian style as in thin crispy and not overloaded with stuff. I like the traditional pizzas like Tonno, Capricciosa, Funghi, Napoli etc. I don't like American/Irish style with pan style base and inch thick layers of all sorts on it. For those maybe a different sauce is more suited.

Anyway I love my pizzas and for years I have tried all sorts of elaborate pizza sauces. Cooked ones with this that and the other thing in it. Went to lengths but never really tasted like in a restaurant. Was really sceptical when he told me this simple recipe. But its awesome. Sometimes I do pizza bases just with that on it, no cheese even, as a snack. And people wolf it down.

Since we're all into pizzas here I will share the other secret my buddy shared with me. Our standard 230c ovens aren't hot enough, restaurant pizza is made at 350c or so and is only in the oven for 4 maybe 5 minutes. But at 230c it takes more like 10, 11 or even 12 minutes. But the toppings will burn over that time and the base will dry out. So what you do is you just put the sauce on the base and put it in the oven as high as you can, right under the oven ceiling. So the heat comes mostly from the bottom into the pizza. Temp obviously on the max. And you bake that for 5 minutes. Then take it out and put your toppings on it and put it back in for another 5 or 6 minutes again right at the top.
Its maybe not 100% like the real thing but very very close and probably as good as can be with our standard ovens.
Obviously you want a good base from water, flour, fresh yeast and a little salt, knead well and let rise properly in a warm place for 30 mins.

Sorry if I'm a little overenthusiastic, maybe this isn't welcome, but I just love pizzas. I mean well.

Irish Stones · 13-03-2014 10:17pm

Boskowski wrote: »

I don't know I just buy the cheap stuff from Lidl which is at least Italian I suppose, but I dont pay any particular attention to it.

LIDL is a German chain of discount markets and most of the stuff they sell is made in Germany though they sell it under Italian names.
We have many LIDL stores over here too, and sauces, pasta, cheese and all other food supposed to be Italian and with Italian names Germany made.
So I wouldn't rely on food on those shelves to prepare an Italian dish.
Not many Italians shop in those stores, their main customers are Eastern European people.

Boskowski · 13-03-2014 10:53pm

Irish Stones wrote: »

LIDL is a German chain of discount markets and most of the stuff they sell is made in Germany though they sell it under Italian names.
We have many LIDL stores over here too, and sauces, pasta, cheese and all other food supposed to be Italian and with Italian names Germany made.
So I wouldn't rely on food on those shelves to prepare an Italian dish.
Not many Italians shop in those stores, their main customers are Eastern European people.

Could be I don't know. Lidl are all over Europe now and I assume they also source all over Europe. Just checked the Lidl parmesan that I have in my fridge and its Italian.

In my local Lidl its all Irish people buying there. In fact we have very few EE here. That is of course but for myself, does Berlin qualify for EE?

Boskowski · 13-03-2014 10:58pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Do you want a medal?

You seem like a nice fella

Irish Stones · 13-03-2014 11:02pm

Boskowski wrote: »

Could be I don't know. Lidl are all over Europe now and I assume they also source all over Europe. Just checked the Lidl parmesan that I have in my fridge and its Italian.

In my local Lidl its all Irish people buying there. In fact we have very few EE here. That is of course but for myself, does Berlin qualify for EE?

By EE I mean mainly Romanians and Bulgarians, we have plenty of them here in northwest Italy.
Yeah, it is possible that LIDL are supplied from all Europe, but what we found here (northern Italy) is mainly German stuff.

Johnny_Fontane · 14-03-2014 11:47am

Boskowski wrote: »

I don't know I just buy the cheap stuff from Lidl which is at least Italian I suppose, but I dont pay any particular attention to it. I'm pretty sure restaurants by the cheapest stuff they can get.

As for the watery issue

The watery issue relates to the tomatoes. I can assure you that decent pizza places dont scrimp on the quality of their tomatoes. I have made my own and used cans, and can definitely recommend the cans. Its the perfect consistency and has a great flavour.

I've been making pizza for probably 5/6 years and constantly change how I make them, just trying to get better. My current secret ingredient is dove hill yeast. its a dried yeast thats not divided into a single 7g packs. Its dynamite compared to the other dried stuff and I find I get a much nicer rise. And its cheap, about €1.80 in Avoca for a bag that will last you a long time. Also if you can get your hands on some burrata, which is mozzarella injected with cream, its really amazing. The cheap 59c balls of mozzarella are grand, but getting fresh buffalo mozzarella (at probably 5 times the price!) is a nice little luxury on (the chefs) pizza.

quaalude · 17-03-2014 9:35am

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Yeah popped in there last night, sadly they had none of the tins there, but it's a great shop.

I was in there yesterday - they've got the sauce back in, but they've jacked the price to €2.39! That's a 60% increase.
I'll get it somewhere else. I didn't buy anything else either - it put me off shopping there.

vicwatson · 18-03-2014 8:02pm

quaalude wrote: »

I was in there yesterday - they've got the sauce back in, but they've jacked the price to €2.39! That's a 60% increase.
I'll get it somewhere else. I didn't buy anything else either - it put me off shopping there.

Little Italy Ltd have a 4.1kg tin for €7.50 !

http://littleitalyltd.com/products/185

I assume Evergreen's tins are 400g for €2.39 ! Scandalous price.

quaalude · 19-03-2014 10:35am

vicwatson wrote: »

Little Italy Ltd have a 4.1kg tin for €7.50 !

http://littleitalyltd.com/products/185

Such a large tin isn't useful for most home cooks (deffo isn't for me).

I see they have the 400g tins too though - for €1.50

http://littleitalyltd.com/products/mutti-pizza-sauce-spicy-aromatizzata-400g

vicwatson wrote: »

I assume Evergreen's tins are 400g for €2.39 ! Scandalous price.

Yep:

vicwatson · 20-03-2014 1:21am

^^^^^

That one you linked to is a spicy sauce for 1.50, couldn't find the 400g of regular sauce on their site

Perhaps buy the large tin and freeze in ziploc bags enough to defrost for 1/2 pizzas at a time?

quaalude · 20-03-2014 10:23am

vicwatson wrote: »

^^^^^

That one you linked to is a spicy sauce for 1.50, couldn't find the 400g of regular sauce on their site

I'm a little confused. I think that it's the same tin- regular, not spicy - and the description on the Little Italy website isn't right? The pic is the same as the one I buy anyway.

WeleaseWoger · 20-03-2014 10:33am

This is the best recipe for pizza topping I have come across. Takes 5 minutes

Mix together:
whole tube or small can of tomato puree
1 clove crushed garlic
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
good handful of dried mixed herbs
half cup to one cup of water to thin out (depending on preferred consistency)

Best if you can make it somewhat in advance to let the flavours blend but still nice made and used straightaway.

deegs · 20-03-2014 10:37am

I make my pizza from scratch, I've even made my own mozeralla!!

For simple pizza you really cant beat a tin of whole plum tomatoes (san marzano is best).

1) open tin
2) pour into bowl
3) Squeeze and squash with hand
4) put on pizza

By far this is my most common sauce. During the summer I grow san marzana and I may blend fresh ones, but blending makes them watery.

I have made other sauces, but really you cannot beat the simplicity and freshness of the above.

Edit: actually sometimes my wife will blend the tomatoes with onion, garlic, courgette, spinach, left over carrots etc. to make sure the kids are eating healthy, bad food

Edit2: never buy chopped tomatoes in tins, they are damaged grade 3 toms. Only buy whole toms as they are grade 2. Grade 1 is usually sold fresh. grade 4 is put into ready meals and some of the "pizza sauces" listed above.....

Boskowski · 21-03-2014 10:13pm

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

The watery issue relates to the tomatoes. I can assure you that decent pizza places dont scrimp on the quality of their tomatoes. I have made my own and used cans, and can definitely recommend the cans. Its the perfect consistency and has a great flavour.

I've been making pizza for probably 5/6 years and constantly change how I make them, just trying to get better. My current secret ingredient is dove hill yeast. its a dried yeast thats not divided into a single 7g packs. Its dynamite compared to the other dried stuff and I find I get a much nicer rise. And its cheap, about €1.80 in Avoca for a bag that will last you a long time. Also if you can get your hands on some burrata, which is mozzarella injected with cream, its really amazing. The cheap 59c balls of mozzarella are grand, but getting fresh buffalo mozzarella (at probably 5 times the price!) is a nice little luxury on (the chefs) pizza.

Thumbs up on the cans. Do you find that Dove Hill yeast better than fresh yeast even? I tried dried yeast years ago when I couldn't find fresh yeast in the shop but I thought it was terrible.

Boskowski · 21-03-2014 10:16pm

WeleaseWoger wrote: »

This is the best recipe for pizza topping I have come across. Takes 5 minutes

Mix together:
whole tube or small can of tomato puree
1 clove crushed garlic
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
good handful of dried mixed herbs
half cup to one cup of water to thin out (depending on preferred consistency)

Best if you can make it somewhat in advance to let the flavours blend but still nice made and used straightaway.

Instead of puree and water try a tin of peeled plum tomatoes and blend. Should be more or less the same idea but I reckon its better. Other than that more or less what I do.

WeleaseWoger · 22-03-2014 2:49am

Its all down to personal preference in the end - I have tried the canned tomatoes and found the taste is too thin and sharp for me. The puree has a richer flavour I find. Plus its easier to squeeze out with no blending! But whatever form your tomatoes come in, made from scratch is better than anything in a packet. For midweek pizzas, and lunchboxes the next day, I use this sauce on tortillas with grated mozzarella and some chili flakes and its quick, tasty and very moreish.

pwurple · 23-03-2014 9:41am

I prefer my pizza sauce thicker... Find all the commercial ones too watery for a thin base pizza. Ditto passata.

Mine is half tomato puree, half pesto.

Where Can I Purchase Pizza Sauce

Comments