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For any homemade pizza, the sauce is a key contributor to how it tastes – so it’s very important that you choose a pizza sauce that is delicious and distinctive!
Our Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce really fits the bill! Fresh Roma tomatoes are roasted in the oven along with onions, garlic, anchovies (you can leave that out if you prefer) and a collection of herbs and other seasonings including oregano, basil, mint, marjoram and red pepper flakes. Then the roasted tomatoes are processed in a food mill
and combined with tomato paste, butter and parmesan cheese to complete the sauce.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this roasted tomato pizza sauce is difficult to make. It’s really quite easy because all of the cooking is done in the oven during the initial roasting process! Roasting the tomatoes really intensifies the flavors because most of the moisture evaporates leaving behind a rich and super delicious tomato flavor unlike anything you’ve had before!
Use this roasted tomato pizza sauce on any tomato-based pizza, like our Pizza Margherita. Top with mozzarella and Fontina cheeses and your favorite toppings – and we predict you’ll be in pizza heaven!
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce
Pizza sauce is made many different ways – some recipes insist that pizza sauces should be an uncooked sauce, while others (like this recipe) see the flavors benefit from some cooking before the sauce is spread on the pizza before baking. Either way, pizza sauce tends to be thicker than a more traditional tomato or marinara sauce. It’s also recommended that pizza sauce be used sparingly so use a light hand when spreading this on your pizza dough before adding the toppings.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Roma tomatoes, or other ripe tomato
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 1 anchovy filet from a can (optional)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint minced
- 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dry marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 6–ounce can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar (honey may be substituted)
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut each Roma tomato in half the long way. If using other tomato types, use a tomato corer (like this one here)
and remove core and discard. Then cut them in half from top to bottom. - In a large bowl place tomato halves, diced onion, optional anchovy filet, garlic, oregano, basil, mint, pepper flakes, marjoram, salt and oil. Toss to combine then pour out onto a sheet pan. Arrange tomato halves cut side up and roast uncovered for one hour. Remove from oven, flip tomatoes and roast for 30 more minutes.
- (Note: different tomato varieties have different water content. The above step should be monitored. You are looking for a good deal of the water content to evaporate but not burn the tomatoes)
- Using a food mill (like this one), process the cooked tomatoes and all liquid through the mill, discarding seeds and skin left in the mill.
- To the pureed tomatoes, add the tomato paste, agave nectar, onion powder, butter and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and adjust seasoning. Use on your favorite pizza or freeze in small plastic bags for later use.
and remove core and discard. Then cut them in half from top to bottom.Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
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degres what c or f my oven gets to max 380c old classic wood cooker
Apologies Paul – it’s 375 degrees F (I’ve updated the recipe) or 190.5 degrees C.
Tastes amazing, but I felt the sauce needed a bit more salt.
Thanks for your feedback Arye – you should always feel free to season any recipe to suit your tastes!
You mention to can to keep for later! I am interested in canning this recipe…..would I need to pressure can or water bath?? IF so how long for pints and how much pressure?
Thanks!
Hi Dawn – Since we published this post, on another tomato sauce recipe, a reader suggested that it would be safest to freeze the sauce and that is what we are doing ourselves. Because of the acidity level in tomato sauces, there is some controversy over the safest method to use to can it. You can read more here: http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-tomatoes-safely.html This suggests that pressure canning is the best method – although we haven’t done that ourselves so can’t give exact advice as to how long. (I will edit that sentence from the post to suggest freezing instead.) Thanks for question!
if you use squeezy lemon juice @1 tsp per 500 gram jar perfectly safe to pressure can any tomatoe products salt and sugar to prefferance
Thanks for the suggestion Paul. (Without testing ourselves or being experts on food safety and safe canning practices, we hate to give canning advice – especially when it comes to our readers’ safety!)
Do you think I could use 64 oz of canned San Marzano’s? I would adjust the salt. Or should I definitely wait for fresh? This recipe looks heavenly!
Hi Stephanie! The canned tomatoes will probably start out much more ‘wet’ than the fresh tomatoes so you’ll also probably need to roast them for longer. But – in general, it still should work to intensify the flavors! Let us know how it comes out! Martha
san marzanos probably haveas much or more flavore than most fresh garden tomatoes its a very tightly selected agp cant go wrong if you can find// or see san morzano paste (difficult but ive found it before) always buy it the taste difference is phenominal
Hi Paul – Agree that San Marzanos are a superior tomato…unfortunately, they aren’t typically sold fresh here in the US.
can i just use dry mint and oregano cuz i dont have fresh will it work too?
Hi Lorie – Yes! Since dry herbs can sometimes be stronger in flavor than fresh, start with half the amount and adjust to your tastes. Let us know how it comes out! Martha
This looks great! I have been wondering what I was going to do with all my fresh Roma tomatoes from my greenhouse….this is the winner for sure!
Thank you so much Wendy!!