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New York-Style Pizza Sauce

No need to go in search of a slice joint. You can make a New York-style pizza at home any time you want, starting with this faithful and perfectly calibrated recipe for the sauce.
Unlike Neapolitan pies, which generally use a simple, uncooked sauce of fresh or canned tomatoes and salt, New York by-the-slice pies use a heavily seasoned cooked sauce. The key to great New York-style sauce is creating a balance between sweetness, acidity, and heat, with a definite herbal backbone. Furthermore, it needs a texture that's thin enough to spread, but thick enough to keep your pizza from turning soggy during the de rigeur fold-and-carry.
This sauce has just the right balance of flavor for New York-style pies. Sweet, a little hot, and intensely savory, with a texture that helps it meld in beautifully with the cheese, the way a good pie should. And here's a non-shocker: It's also good served with pasta.
Servings: 4
Author: Serious Eats

Ingredients

  • 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 15ml
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 15ml
  • 2 medium cloves garlic grated on microplane grater (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt
  • 1 medium yellow onion peeled and split in half
  • 2 6-inch sprigs fresh basil with leaves attached
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Purée the tomatoes:

  • Process the tomatoes and their juice through a food mill, pulse in a food processor until puréed, or purée with an immersion blender. Purée should not be completely smooth, but should have no chunks larger than 1/16th of an inch.
  • Set the tomatoes aside.

Cook the sauce:

  • Combine the oil and butter in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is melted.
  • Add the garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, and a large pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, onion halves, basil sprigs, and sugar.
  • Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting (bubbles should barely be breaking the surface), and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 1 hour.

Finish:

  • Discard the onions and basil stems.
  • Season to taste with salt.
  • Allow to cool and store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.