Garden Pizza Sauce

High-summer tomatoes · a sauce that tastes like the bed it came from

~3 cups · 15 min

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2 lb fresh tomatoes (or a 28-oz can, off-season)
1 onion, diced · 4 garlic cloves
1 sweet pepper (banana or bell), diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste, for body
¼ cup stock or water, to deglaze
oregano & thyme (in the pot); basil & chives (at the end)
salt, pepper, 2 Tbsp sugar

What you need

2 lb fresh tomatoes (or a 28-oz can, off-season)

1 onion, diced · 4 garlic cloves

1 sweet pepper (banana or bell), diced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp tomato paste, for body

¼ cup stock or water, to deglaze

oregano & thyme (in the pot); basil & chives (at the end)

salt, pepper, 2 Tbsp sugar

Sweat the aromatics. Soften the onion and pepper in the oil, 6 min; add the garlic.
Bloom the paste. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a minute until it darkens — that's free depth.
Deglaze, then simmer down. Splash in the stock or water to lift the browned paste and aromatics off the pan — it keeps them from scorching and steams the tomatoes into breaking down. Add the tomatoes (crush fresh ones by hand), oregano, and thyme; simmer 30 min until thick — pizza sauce wants to be thicker than pasta sauce, or it soaks the crust.
Blend to taste. Smooth or rustic, your call — an immersion blender right in the pot does it.
Finish fresh. Off the heat, stir in torn basil and chives; season with salt, pepper, and about 2 Tbsp sugar to round the tomato's edge — garden tomatoes run sharp, and it takes more than a pinch to balance them. Add it a little at a time and taste.

Steps — tap one to keep your place

1. Sweat the aromatics. Soften the onion and pepper in the oil, 6 min; add the garlic.

2. Bloom the paste. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a minute until it darkens — that's free depth.

3. Deglaze, then simmer down. Splash in the stock or water to lift the browned paste and aromatics off the pan — it keeps them from scorching and steams the tomatoes into breaking down. Add the tomatoes (crush fresh ones by hand), oregano, and thyme; simmer 30 min until thick — pizza sauce wants to be thicker than pasta sauce, or it soaks the crust.

4. Blend to taste. Smooth or rustic, your call — an immersion blender right in the pot does it.

5. Finish fresh. Off the heat, stir in torn basil and chives; season with salt, pepper, and about 2 Tbsp sugar to round the tomato's edge — garden tomatoes run sharp, and it takes more than a pinch to balance them. Add it a little at a time and taste.

Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.