Oh, what a perfect food is pizza! I never ate pizza until I began going to Italy once or twice a year, and now I place it up there with baked potatoes or a great omelette. I’m talking about real pizza, not the cheesy, gummy, over-sauced, oregano-laden, tough pizza made in most pizza parlours. You get the picture. I have strong feelings about what pizza is and how it should be made. The pizza of Rome is my favourite, made with the fresh buffalo mozzarella found only between Rome and Naples, but the pizza you make at home will be a close second – if only because you can regulate the thickness of the crust and put only the freshest ingredients on top.
Everyone has a favourite pizza, but most people, including the restaurateurs who put pizza on their menus, have never actually tasted the real thing: simple dough, light sauce, fresh mozzarella, and a sprinkle of fresh basil. It they had, they would not dream of offering the public what passes for a pizza.
My food history guru, Charles Perry, wrote in The Journal of Gastronomy some years ago that pizza came from the Greek word picea (pitch, a flattened cake), which became pitta, then possa, so I guess we have the Greeks to thank for one of the world’s most popular foods. Of course, anyone with eyes and an appetite could see that a nice piece of dough, flattened and baked, cried out for something to top it, if only a splash of good olive oil and a little salt. What you put on your pizza is your business, but once again I encourage you to keep it simple: do not suffocate the pizza with too much sauce, heavy meats, or gloppy cheeses.
Pizza does not agree with everyone, often the result of overcooking the cheese and tossing too many ingredients on top to fight with one another. In most pizza parlours, hard, waxy commercial mozzarella is used, and the casein in the cheese changes structure when cooked, making it more indigestible than it is when eaten uncooked. Fresh mozzarella will do the same thing, although not as radically, and so should be added just before the pizza is ready to keep the cheese smooth and creamy. Keep in mind that a light hand with toppings will yield a crispy, savoury pizza that will not keep you up all night. Try using three or flour ingredients instead of seven or eight – the same approach you might use in making any good, simple dish – and you will be able to taste each individual flavour instead of having a stew on top of a piece of dough. Pizza is not bouillabaisse. Pizza is only a simple bruschetta that you put in the oven.
This pizza dough is not like any other. It takes exactly two minutes to make, and is made from dough that is refrigerated overnight or for as long as a week to acquire flavour. This gives it a slight tang and (all-purpose) flour plus olive oil gives it crisp texture. You may also use the dough to make quick breads.
If the dough remains in the refrigerator for more than three days or so, you will need to liven it up with a little flour, as the yeast will have dined on most of the nutrients in the flour – only by feeding them new carbohydrates will you get a response from them. Simply let the dough come to room temperature, take the dough out of the plastic bag, roll it in a couple of spoonfuls of plain (all-purpose) flour and take a few seconds to work the flour into the dough with the palms of your hands. The dough will lose its pallor and become shiny, smooth, and resilient again. Let it rest for 15 minutes before using, so that it can be easily stretched.
Pizza dough must have oil for the short, crisp texture which complements the acidity of tomato sauce and the creaminess of fresh mozzarella. Many chefs flavour dough with various other ingredients, but I am a staunch purist who prefers her pizza dough plain and simple without the distractions of onion, herbs, or spices. Everyone, however, should do exactly as he or she likes with pizza. That’s the fun of it. I only give you the building blocks, and what you make of them is your own creation. The following recipe is for the classic thin pizza of Rome, my favourite, and, along with the pizza of Naples, the best pizza in Italy. In the following recipe, I use 125 g/1 cup of flour for each main-course serving, but more often than not, I make some extra dough to freeze or to have on hand to make flat, thin antipasto focaccia.
Makes: Two 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizze
5 ml/1 teaspoon active dry yeast
360 ml/1½ cups lukewarm water (30-35°C/85-95°F)
500-565 g/4 to 4½ cups unbleached plain (all-purpose) flour
90 ml/6 tablespoons olive oil
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
In a container that pours easily, sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until dissolved. Put the flour, olive oil, and salt into the bowl of food processor fitted with the metal blade. Blend for a few seconds and then add the yeast and water, blending just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be slightly sticky to the touch. Dip your fingers in a little olive oil and lift the dough from the bowl, shaping it into a ball. Put the dough in an oiled bowl.
SAME DAY METHOD: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 60 minutes.
OVERNIGHT OR MAKE-AHEAD METHOD: After first rise, transfer the dough to a plastic freezer bag and seal tightly, leaving a little air in the bag. Alternatively, ignore first rise completely and place the dough directly in the bag. Refrigerate overnight or up to 1 week. The dough will rise in the bag and take on a lovely, sour taste. Let the dough come to room temperature before using.
TO SHAPE AND PREPARE PIZZE: Oil two 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch baking sheets with olive oil. Divide the dough in half and stretch each piece on a baking sheet into a 30 x 15 cm/12 x 6-inch rectangle in the following manner: using your palms and starting from the centre of the dough, gently press and stretch the dough outward from the middle to form a thin crust slightly thicker at the edge. Push the dough up around the edges to make a 3 to 5 mm/⅛ to ¼ inch lip to hold the sauce. Choose from the following recipes to complete your pizza.
TO BAKE THE PIZZA: Preheat the oven to its highest temperature.
Place the pizza with topping on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crust. The crust edges should be well-browned and the cheese bubbling and browned. If, when the pizza is done, the bottom seems a little soggy, place the baking sheet on a stove burner over medium heat, moving the pan continually back and forth over the heat and watching carefully until the pizza begins to send off steam. At this point, the bottom will be well browned and the crust crisped. A wood-burning oven would really do the trick, but alas, not many of us have that luxury! By cooking the bottom of the pizza on the stovetop, you duplicate as well as you can the stone floor of a wood-burning oven. This technique works for other dishes as well.
NOTE: If you prefer to use quick-rising yeast, the dough will only need about 30 minutes to rise. If the dough rises and you cannot top and bake it right away, flatten it, cover it with a light cotton towel and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or until needed.
To use a pizza stone, make 3 pizze from the dough, rolling each one only to the size of the stone. Heat the stone in the oven. Place the pizza on a wooden peel coated with cornmeal or flour and put on the toppings. When the oven is hot, slide the pizza off the peel onto the stone in one motion. Bake for the same amount of time in the recipe. (I do not use pizza stones only because I like to make bigger pizze.)
This is my favourite pizza: simple, beautiful, and satisfying – particularly about 11 in the morning when hunger pangs begin. Midmorning, the smell of pizza bianca permeates the air in Rome, since any baker worth his salt is making it. It is the “snack” of Italy. I hate the idea of snacking, much less the word itself, but if there is one thing I will eat between breakfast and the late lunches in Italy, it is pizza bianca. Italians do not eat breakfast, per se, which is why the pizza bianca has become practically an icon. Thin, delicious chewy pizza with a brush of olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse salt can’t be all bad. And it’s a heck of a lot healthier than candy bars or potato chips washed down with a diet soda.
The dough for this pizza is a little more bready than the basic pizza dough. If you prefer, use the basic pizza dough to make pizza bianca.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
Biga:
125 g/1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
240 ml/1 cup lukewarm water (30-35°C/85-95°F)
5 ml/1 teaspoon active dry yeast
Pizza:
375 g/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
240 ml/1 cup lukewarm water (30-35°C/85-95°F)
90 ml/6 tablespoons olive oil
5 ml/1 teaspoon active dry yeast
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
60 ml/¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
15 ml/1 tablespoon coarse salt
TO MAKE THE BIGA: Stir together the flour, water, and yeast until mixed to form a wet dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
TO MAKE THE PIZZA: Stir together the flour, water, olive oil, yeast, and salt. Add the biga and mix well until smooth and shiny. This may be done in a food processor. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Keeping the dough inflated as much as possible, turn it out on a baking sheet and stretch it to the edges by making little indentations all over with your fingers (see illustration). Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush with the extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt.
TO BAKE THE PIZZA: Follow the instructions on page 84.
VARIATIONS:
PIZZA CON RUGHETTA (ARUGULA) OR SALVIA (SAGE):
Stretch the pizza dough extra thin, brush with extra-virgin olive oil and bake at 260°C/500°F/gas 10 for about 9 minutes, until well browned and crispy. Sprinkle with more olive oil and strew fresh rocket (arugula) leaves or 8 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, sautéed until crispy in 15 ml/1 tablespoon of olive oil, over the hot surface. Serve immediately.
PIZZA CON OLIO DI TARTUFFO:
Bake as for Pizza con Rughetta. Dust with rock salt before baking. Drip truffle oil over the hot surface of the crisp pizza and serve immediately.
PIZZA CON CIPOLLE:
Sauté 300 g/2 cups of thin sliced onions in 120 ml/½ cup of olive oil until softened. Sprinkle with 5 ml/1 teaspoon of sugar and cook for a few minutes longer until browned. Spread over the pizza dough and bake as directed on page 84.
PIZZA AI FUNGHI:
Sauté 200 g/2 cups brown mushrooms, sliced thin, or a mixture of your favourite mushrooms, such as chanterelles, morels, white cap, portobello, etc., in 120 ml/½ cup of olive oil until well browned. Add 1 to 2 cloves of minced or sliced garlic and cook just until translucent. Add 30 ml/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Spread over the pizza dough, sprinkle with 15 ml/1 tablespoon fresh, chopped basil and bake as directed on page 84.
The number one choice in Italy for pizza (after Pizza Bianca) is Pizza Margherita. Once again, it is the absolutely fresh ingredients from the dairy and the garden that make this so extraordinary. In Italy there is a cow’s milk mozzarella called fior di latte, literally, “flower of milk,” which believe me, it is! Mozzarella di bufula is mozzarella made from domesticated water buffalo, the same animals that produce the exquisite fresh mozzarella made at dairies between Rome and Naples. Please, please search for mozzarella packed in water to use on pizza, not hard, packaged mozzarella. If you must use this, put the cheese on the pizza just before it is done, so that it will not overbake and turn rubbery.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
160 ml/⅔ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, page 95, or your favourite tomato sauce
Dough for 1 pizza crust, ½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust, page 84.
175 g/6 ounces fresh mozzarella packed in water, chopped fine
25 g/1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine or snipped with scissors into 3mm/⅛ inch strips
30 ml/2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat the oven to its highest temperature. Stretch the dough on an oiled baking sheet, as explained in the recipe for Basic Pizza Crust.
Spread a thin, even layer of tomato sauce over the dough. Sprinkle the mozzarella and chopped basil evenly over the sauce and sprinkle with olive oil. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 7 to 10 minutes, or until crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.
Following the Italian custom, Sunday night is pizza night in our house – one of the rare moments of stability in my otherwise unpredictable life. The rest of the week is hectic, surprising, sometimes trying (the oven goes out or the starter goes limp or the head bagger at the bakery goes on vacation!), often exhilarating, but with a pace that could discourage even a player on the Roma soccer team. On Sundays, at least I know what I am to do. I know that I must have fresh basil. I know that mozzarella must be in the refrigerator, and I know that I must have anchovies for the pizza, although one of my cookbooks, written in Italian by a baker, says that capers and fresh oregano are also used to top Pizza Napoletano. I go back and forth with this one, but I have the first three come hell or high water.
There is no limit as to how many anchovies any one person can put on a pizza. At our house, anchovies are used liberally, not only on our pizze but in many other dishes, too. When on occasion I run out of them, I have been known to use imposter squiggles of anchovy paste as a stand-in for my coveted Italian anchovies packed in olive oil. My real favourites are those packed in salt in large square tins, usually found in good Italian food shops, but the ones in little cans do just as well. For those pizza lovers who must also watch their salt intake, give the anchovies a quick 5 minute soak in cold water to wash off as much salt as possible but still retain the taste.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
Dough for 1 recipe pizza crust,½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust, page 84.
160 ml/⅔ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, page 95, or your favourite tomato sauce
175 g/6 ounces fresh mozzarella packed in water, chopped fine
10 g/½ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine (see Note)
8 to 10 anchovy fillets
30 ml/2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat the oven to its highest temperature. Stretch the dough on an oiled baking sheet as explained in the recipe for Basic Pizza Crust.
Spread a thin, even layer of tomato sauce over the dough. Sprinkle the mozzarella and chopped basil evenly over the sauce. Lay the anchovy fillets every 10 cm/4 inches or so to cover the entire pizza or lay them in a lattice design for a more elegant presentation. Drizzle the pizza with olive oil. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.
NOTE: If you must, at a pinch substitute fresh oregano leaves or even parsley chopped fine, for the basil. Or freeze fresh pesto to use on pizze anytime!
PIZZA WITH POTATOES AND ROSEMARY
My first pizza a taglio (pizza by the piece) was eaten in a skinny little Roman street near the parliament, a street offering every amenity you would need to live a happy life – a chair-caning shop, a shoe repair, a beauty supply, a tiny alimentari (grocery store), a hardware store, a blacksmith, a fragile little nonna who knitted exquisite sweaters, and to top it off, a wood-burning pizza oven known as forno al legno. When I saw my favourite vegetable, sliced thin and strewn with rosemary over the top of a one-metre/3-foot square pizza, I wanted to move on the spot. Potatoes and rosemary on pizza are as satisfying as a layer of fresh cream over raspberries or fresh butter melting on hot bread. This is a filling pizza and does not even need the mozzarella, but you can choose which you like best. You will also find amazing pizza a taglio in Florence.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
60 ml/¼ cup olive oil
8 small red new potatoes, sliced thin
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
60 ml/¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped fine
Dough for 1 pizza crust, ½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust, page 84
160 ml/⅔ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, page 95, or your favourite tomato sauce
175 g/6 ounces fresh mozzarella packed in water, chopped fine
In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the potatoes until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and rosemary and cook for 5 or 6 minutes longer until the potatoes are well browned and the onion is tender but still crisp. Remove from the heat to cool.
Stretch the dough on an oiled baking sheet, as explained in the recipe for Basic Pizza Crust.
Spread a thin, even layer of tomato sauce over the dough. Arrange the potato-rosemary mixture evenly over the sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
NOTE: When onions are very sweet in late summer, add them sliced raw to pizza, cooking only as long as the pizza takes to bake. In this way they retain their freshness and crispness. In Italy, the sweet red onions of Tropea, Sicily are used for this special pizza.
Another passion of mine is the artichoke. The artichoke fields outside Rome are like vast silver-green seas that go on for miles. I once wrote an article about artichokes and found that they had been discovered by asses in a field of thistles. Just after this miraculous find, the Roman senators forbade the commoners to eat them (naturally, they wanted them all for themselves), and the remark went around that “asses had discovered them and asses were still eating them”, no reflection, of course, on those of us who make whole meals of them whenever we can. We have round baby artichokes in California, which I prefer to the huge, globe type because they are very tender and sweet, but I am still trying to persuade growers at our farmer’s market to plant the beautiful, elongated Italian ones that are deep green and streaked with violet. These can be eaten raw with a little olive oil and salt and are perfect for pizza.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
10 fresh baby artichokes
45 ml/3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
90 ml/6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
30 ml/2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
Salt and pepper
Dough for 1 recipe pizza crust, ½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust, page 84
160 ml/⅔ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, page 95, or your favourite tomato sauce, (optional)
175 g/6 ounces fresh mozzarella packed in water, shredded
TO PREPARE THE ARTICHOKES: With a sharp, serrated knife or potato peeler, trim the discoloured parts of stem and cut each globe in half, discarding the tips of the pointy leaves. Peel and discard the outer green leaves to expose the yellow, tender part of globes. Slice each artichoke in thin slices from top to bottom. Put them in a bowl, sprinkle with 15 ml/1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, and set aside until ready to use.
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, drain the artichokes well, and sauté them until golden brown or until quite crispy on the edges. Add the garlic and mint and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the remaining 30 ml/2 tablespoons of lemon juice and set aside to cool.
TO MAKE THE PIZZA: Preheat the oven to its highest temperature. Stretch the dough on an oiled baking sheet, as explained in the recipe for Basic Pizza Crust.
Spread a thin, even layer of tomato sauce over the dough, if using. Distribute the cooled artichoke slices over the pizza and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the artichokes are nicely browned.
NOTE: For a more exotic pizza, add sliced, sautéed potatoes (what else?). Mentuccia, an Italian mint, may be found at nurseries.
This pizza is called Four Seasons pizza because each quadrant of the pie is graced with different ingredients, such as a combination of prosciutto, cheese, artichokes, and mushrooms. I used to think it was named for The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, and that each ingredient represented a season of the year – a challenging task, if you think about it. You may use any four vegetables or even four cheeses you choose (change the name to Pizza Quattro Formaggi), but once again, try to stick to the simplest and most complementary combinations.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
Dough for 1 pizza crust, ½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust, page 84
160 ml/⅔ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, page 95, or your favourite tomato sauce
175 g/6 ounces prosciutto, sliced very thin
150 g/1 cup baby artichokes, sliced, prepared and cooled as for Pizza ai Carciofi, page 90
100 g/1 cup thin sliced mushrooms, prepared as for Pizza ai Funghi, page 86
55 g/½ cup chopped or shredded Fontina, mozzarella, Parmesan or Taleggio cheese
10 g/½ cup chopped fresh basil
60 ml/¼ cup olive oil
Preheat the oven to its highest temperature. Stretch the dough on an oiled baking sheet, as explained in the recipe for Basic Pizza Crust.
Spread a thin, even layer of tomato sauce over the dough. Arrange the prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms, and cheese on the pizza on each quarter of the pizza, to make Quattro Stagioni. Sprinkle basil over any or all of the quadrants, depending on your taste. Sprinkle with olive oil. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.
This grilled pizza is a lovely change from oven-baked pizza, and a fair facsimile of the pizza crusts made in wood-burning ovens in Italy. You must have a barbecue with a lid for good results, even better if the barbecue also has a temperature gauge, which should read 200-230°C/400-450°F for a crusty pizza. If your grill rack is not adjustable, simply place two patio bricks flat on the barbecue grill to hold a second grill (for the pizza) farther from the coals (see illustration). I take advantage of the hot coals to roast peppers for the pizza, but you may just as easily grill thin slices of aubergine, courgette, or any other vegetable you like, including green tomato slices, which make a spectacular pizza. If you do, omit the tomato sauce and substitute the fresh, grilled tomatoes, spreading them over the crust before adding the cheese and basil.
Makes: One 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch pizza
1 large or 2 medium-sized red or yellow bell peppers
90 ml/6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
45 ml/3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
30 ml/2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
Salt
Dough for 1 recipe pizza crust, ½ recipe Basic Pizza Dough, page 84
120 ml/½ cup Simply Perfect Tomato Sauce, (page 95), or your favourite tomato sauce
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Position the grill rack so that it is15-18 cm/ 6-7 inches above the coals.
TO PREPARE THE PEPPERS: Roast the peppers on the grill, turning them often until they are blackened. Transfer them to a plate and cover them with a damp cloth for 5 minutes (I simply cover them with a clean cloth and spritz it). Rub the skins from the peppers; they will slip off easily. Scrape out the seeds and slice into 1 cm/½-inch thick slices.
In a frying pan, heat 45 ml/4 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the peppers until nicely browned. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for about 2 minutes or until the vinegar evaporates and the peppers caramelize. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and season with salt. Let cool.
TO MAKE THE PIZZA: With floured hands, press the dough into one or two 30 cm/12-inch rounds, forming a lip around the edges. Make sure the dough is not sticky by dusting it with a little flour, if necessary. Transfer the rounds to a floured baking sheet (or dust it with cornmeal, which acts as little ball-bearings to enable the pizza to slide off easily). Let it rest for 10 minutes.
Brush the pizza crusts with 15 ml/1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil. Brush the grill with oil and slide the pizza onto it. Close the lid of the grill and bake for about 5 minutes, watching to see that the fire is not too hot and burning the underside. If it is too hot, let the coals burn out a bit or spritz them with a little water before proceeding. Open the lid and spread the pizza with sauce, arrange the peppers on top, sprinkle with mozzarella and basil and drizzle with the remaining 15 ml/1 tablespoon of olive oil. Close the lid for 5 to 7 minutes longer, or until the edges are crisp and browned and the cheese is melted. Remove with a large metal spatula and serve in wedges.
VERY THIN PIZZA WITH ROCKET PASTE
My whole garden was cannibalized one season by some innocuous seeds from Capri which, for two years, would not even germinate. But when they did, they produced prodigious plants of wild rocket (arugula selvatica) which have a delightful small jagged leaf and a very peppery spicy flavour to which one becomes instantly addicted. I cannot eat a salad without it, and in searching for ways to use it, invented this very healthy condiment. I am sure it is packed with vitamins just because of its intense green colour. Domestic rocket does just as well.
My pizza dough must be stretched very thin to make this, so that it becomes light and crisp, like a cracker, when baking.
Makes: 6 servings
½ recipe Basic Pizza Crust (page 84), stretched to fit 33 x 46 cm/13 x 18-inch baking sheet
75 g/3 cups torn fresh rocket (arugula) leaves
160 ml/⅔ cup olive oil
Juice from 2 lemons
½ clove garlic
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil, for brushing on pizza dough
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8. Let the pizza dough rise for 15 minutes while you make the rocket paste.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the rocket, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt and process to a smooth paste.
With the palms of your hands flat, stretch the pizza dough very thin on an oiled baking sheet, taking care not to create a tear, or hole (patch with a small bit of the dough, if you like). Brush the pizza dough generously with olive oil and bake for 9 or 10 minutes, until nicely browned and crisp in places. The surface will be uneven and will cook unevenly but will look pretty. Cool in the tin for a few minutes, break in pieces and serve with the rocket paste.
NOTE: Try this recipe with olive paste or substitute coriander (cilantro) for rocket to make the paste.
For years, I have debated with friends and chefs about the controversial pinch of sugar added to tomato sauce. My stepdaughter, Nicole, who is Italian and a marvellous cook, says that a pinch of sugar is imperative and so I am in the habit of using it and I cannot do without it. I use the sugar to complement and temper the acidity of the tomatoes, but even in the summer, when I often harvest pound after pound of very sweet Roma sauce tomatoes, I still use my pinch. Although this sauce is ideal for pasta or pizza, a spoonful of it is also useful in finishing other sauces or livening up soup stocks. You might just want to dip your focaccia in it as is.
Makes: 480 ml/2 cups
30 ml/2 tablespoons olive oil
75 g/½ cup sweet onion, finely diced
One 400 g/16-ounce can crushed Italian tomatoes or 900 g/2 pounds fresh Roma tomatoes, crushed
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
In a 30 cm/12-inch sauté pan or deep stainless steel skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the tomatoes with their liquid, the salt, and sugar and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thickened.
