Antonia Lofaso's Secret For The Best Pizza Sauce

The question of which city makes the best pizza is an ongoing one. Is there a correct answer? It depends on who you ask. But perhaps we're asking the wrong question. Rather than ask where you can get the best pizza slice, perhaps we should be asking how we can achieve the best pizza at home. Leave the oversized pies and fancy pizza ovens to the professionals, and focus on the ingredients. And one of the most vital ingredients is sauce.

We at Chowhound had a chance to chat with chef Antonia Lofaso at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, and she shared her secret to achieving the perfect pizza sauce. It's about technique more than anything else. The key is that the sauce should be raw. A good can of crushed tomatoes (canned tomatoes are technically cooked, but it's the sauce that shouldn't be heated beforehand) or fresh tomatoes that are crushed by hand, is crucial. Season with olive oil and salt, letting the sweetness of the tomato really shine. Finally, the sauce should be put on the pizza dough raw, meaning no heating or cooking is done to it, before it goes in the oven.

"To me, there's a freshness to it, you're honoring the acidity and the sweetness of the tomato because it's just kind of getting warmed in there," said Lofaso. Whereas a cooked all-purpose tomato sauce, she notes, changes in texture, flavor, and color as it continues to cook further in the hot oven.

Even as an alumnus of the Wolfgang Puck school of gimmicky pizzas, (salmon and caviar on pizza, anyone?), Antonia Lofaso is actually a bit of a purist when it comes to pizza toppings. For a sauce as simple and fresh as she describes, the toppings shouldn't overpower the sauce. Instead, it should complement it, letting each element shine on its own. Her go-to toppings on her favorite New York-style crunchy crust pizza are cheese, and maybe some pepperoni if she's feeling spicy.

To really pay homage to this perfect pizza sauce, opt for toppings that don't require too much work. After you've prepared your dough and topped it with your newly discovered perfect pizza sauce, keep the good times rolling with some more light and fresh options. A few thin slices of a juicy Roma tomato will help to amplify the sweet and acidic sauce underneath. Accompany each tomato slice with some fresh mozzarella cheese or creamy burrata and a few basil leaves.