The Sauce

There are generally two types of pizza bases, red (rosso) and white (bianco). Red is obviously a tomato base. My tried and true recipe for a tomato pizza sauce is the simplest thing in the world—I just take the best-quality canned, whole, peeled tomatoes I can find, then blend them with some sea salt, cracked black pepper and dried oregano—that’s it! I don’t cook it, I don’t add garlic, I don’t add fresh herbs, I don’t use fresh tomatoes. This allows the toppings on this very basic, sweet, unadulterated sauce to shine. A white pizza consists of a simple olive oil and seasoning base, then topped with cheese so it doesn’t burn, followed by the toppings of your choice. Don’t drown the base in sauce or it will never crisp up.