Pizza gear
Tomatoes
The sauce is mostly the can. Whole peeled or crushed, milled and dressed raw, no cooking needed.
A Neapolitan sauce is not cooked. You open a can, crush or mill the tomatoes, add salt and maybe a little oil, and spread it raw so it cooks on the pizza in 90 seconds. That is why the can matters more than any technique: the flavor is mostly what the tomato brought.
Whole peeled plum tomatoes give you the most control and the brightest flavor, crushed by hand the Neapolitan way. San Marzano DOP, grown in volcanic soil south of Naples, is the benchmark for sweetness and low seed count. Crushed or finely chopped cans are faster; passata is smooth and seedless for those who want no texture.
Mutti
Polpa (finely chopped)
Mutti
Whole Peeled
Eat Wholesome
San Marzano DOP
La Fiammante
San Marzano Peeled
Gustarosso
San Marzano DOP
Cirio
Whole Peeled (3 kg)
Mutti
Passata
by Amazon
Italian Chopped Tomatoes
Cento
San Marzano DOP
Strianese
San Marzano Peeled
Nolano
San Marzano DOP
La Torrente
Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP
Mutti
Datterini
Tomatoes questions
What are the best tomatoes for pizza sauce?
Whole peeled plum tomatoes, ideally San Marzano DOP, crushed by hand and dressed only with salt and a little oil. They are sweet, low in seeds, and low in acid, so a raw sauce tastes balanced without cooking. Certified DOP cans carry a seal tracing them to the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino area near Naples.
Do you cook pizza sauce?
For Neapolitan and most pizzeria styles, no. The sauce goes on raw and cooks in the 60 to 90 seconds the pizza spends in a hot oven, which keeps the tomato bright and fresh. Cooking the sauce first is a home-oven habit that suits longer, cooler bakes but dulls a true Neapolitan pie.
What is San Marzano DOP?
San Marzano DOP is a protected designation for a specific long plum tomato grown in volcanic soil in the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino area southeast of Naples. Real DOP cans carry a consortium seal and serial number. The tomatoes are prized for a sweet, low-acid, low-seed flesh that needs almost nothing added.
Whole peeled, crushed, or passata, which should I buy?
Whole peeled for the most control and the classic hand-crushed Neapolitan sauce. Crushed or finely chopped for speed when you want a quick, even sauce. Passata, which is strained and seedless, for a smooth sauce with no texture. All three work; whole peeled rewards a little more effort with brighter flavor.
Free pizza tools
Gear gets you the heat and the flour. These free tools help you use them: dial in a recipe, then find great pizza near you.