Marinara sauce is a pizza staple and in my house, a pizza must! Everyone has their "go-to" recipe and I am no different. In terms of my sauce, I like to keep it really clean and simple. This quiet underdog of pizza ingredients, is actually a "quick-change" artist. Make one small ingredient change or addition and you've got a whole new flavor profile, and therefore, a whole new pie! So starting with a basic recipe- tomatoes, fresh oregano and salt, you've got a great building block for many pies to come. But today, lets focus on creating a pie that showcases marinara as the unsung hero it truly is!
For inspiration, I turned to pizza legend/godfather of pizza, Chris Bianco.
Being the Zen Master that he is, Mr. Bianco of course features a marinara pizza as one of the six pizza offerings at his restaurant, Pizzeria Bianco (very high on my list of places to visit this year). I don't have the recipe, but looking at his menu, the pizza has 3 basic ingredients - tomato sauce, garlic and oregano. With so few ingredients, each has to pack flavor.
Lets take a look at my first attempt to re-create his classic. Here's hoping I do the man proud and the marinara justice!
Andris
Our Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients 1 pizza dough 1 can of Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes Fresh Oregano Thinly sliced garlic Sea Salt & Olive Oil
1. Place Baking Steel on top rack of your oven. Pre-heat to 500 degrees or on full throttle (Preheat 45 minutes-1 hr).
2. Stretch or roll out dough to a 12 inch cylinder, or any shape will do. Lightly flour your peel and place dough on top.
3. Strain, crush and pulverize tomatoes with a small handful of fresh oregano and sea salt.
4. Evenly distribute the tomato sauce over pizza dough, leave 1 inch around perimeter
5. Carefully place sliced garlic on top.
6. Launch onto the Baking Steel, bake until you've reached your desired brownness.
7. Remove pizza from oven, slice and serve.
Create some love
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