how to make pizza sauce with passata | Family Cuisine

This pizza sauce is super easy to make and tastes delicious. With no added sugar or salt, it is perfect for kids and babies.

Why Make Homemade Pizza Sauce

• Taste – Most people would agree that the dough is the most important part of a pizza. However, coming in a close second has to be the sauce, and you simply can’t beat the taste of homemade.
• Easy to make – Really easy and quick to make, it is worth taking the little extra effort.
• Basic Ingredients – With the exception of fresh basil, the ingredients are staple pantry ingredients that you probably already have.
• Control – You are in control of what goes into your sauce. Add more or less garlic/herbs to suit your tastes buds and skip the sugar/salt (found in many store-bought sauces) if making for a baby / young child.

Ingredient Information

• Olive Oil – Used to saute the garlic.
• Garlic – Freshly minced garlic adds flavour, add more or less depending on how much you love garlic! Don’t be afraid to add flavour this way to baby food, it is good for them to get used to different flavours and textures.
• Passata – Passata is a great consistency for making a quick pizza sauce. If you can not get your hands on passata then you can use cans of crushed or chopped tomatoes. (You may have to use a stick blender at the end to blend out any lumps.) Choose good quality passata or crushed tomatoes for the best-tasting sauce.
• Tomato Paste – Tomato paste (tomato puree in the UK) helps thicken the sauce, making it better for spreading onto pizza bases.
• Oregano – Dried oregano is used in this recipe but you can use fresh if you prefer. Fresh oregano should be added at the end of the cooking time, along with the basil.
• Basil -The flavour of fresh basil really makes this sauce but you can use dried if you prefer. (Add 1 tsp along with the passata and paste)
• (Salt) – Salt isn’t on the ingredient list as the recipe was developed with babies and toddlers in mind. However, if you are making this for older children/adults then add a little salt to taste.

How to Make Pizza Sauce

There are thousands of pizza sauce recipes on the internet and they vary greatly. Some require no cooking and others require you to simmer for hours. This sauce sits in the middle.

Without some cooking, the sauce will have a sharp and underdeveloped flavour. However, this sauce uses passata and tomato paste so there is no need to simmer for a long time. If you do have the time, simmer for longer to develop the flavours.

• Thickening Pizza Sauce

If you feel the sauce is too thin, you can either add a little more tomato paste or allow the sauce to simmer longer (uncovered).

• How to Combat an Acidic Taste

Using good quality passata/crushed tomatoes will result in a better-tasting sauce. If you feel the flavour is on the acidic side then you can try simmering the sauce for longer, adding more herbs or adding a pinch of sugar.

Serving Suggestions

This sauce is fantastic on traditional pizzas (and less traditional pizzas!) Why not try it on

• Pizza Toast
• Mini cauliflower pizzas,
• Tortilla Pizza
• Rainbow pitta pizza
• Sweet potato pizzas.

Storage Instructions

• Refrigerator – Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for 3-5 days.
• Freezer – To freeze this sauce, cool and then transfer to freezable bags or containers. For smaller portions, perfect for baby food, pour into ice-cube trays (flexible ones work best). Once frozen, remove the cubes from the tray and transfer to a freezable bag or container and return to the freezer.