This is the sauce that ties pizza nights together — and it freezes well enough to keep a pizza-day stash in the freezer ready to go. Make a big batch, divide into portions, and you’re sorted for weeks. See Wood Fired Pizza Dough for the dough that goes underneath.

It’s also the base of any quick weeknight pasta sauce when there’s nothing else in the fridge.

PASSATA

Ingredients

• 2 × 400g tins crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (or equivalent dried tomato / dehydrated tomato sheets, soaked) – or just buy some jars of pre-made passata andcwork from here with flavours.
• 125ml water
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Small bunch fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Black pepper, to taste
• Vegeta, to taste (around 1 tsp to start)
• Olive oil, for cooking

Method

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan and cook the garlic and onion gently until they’ve lost their rawness but haven’t browned.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Simmer until the flavours have blended and the mixture has thickened to a sauce consistency.
3. Add the oregano, vinegar, sugar, pepper and Vegeta. Taste and adjust — it should be punchy but not too salty.
4. Blend with a stick mixer for a smoother texture, and continue to simmer to thicken further if needed.

Notes

Quantities are a starting point only. Tomatoes vary, taste varies, and this is a sauce that rewards adjusting as you go. Treat the numbers as a first draft and tweak to your own palate.

Vegeta is a Croatian-style vegetable stock seasoning — salty, savoury, slightly sweet, made with dried vegetables and herbs. Most supermarkets stock it in the international aisle. Stock powder or a pinch of MSG will do similar work if you don’t have any.

Freezing — divide into pizza-night portions (around 250ml each) and freeze flat in zip-lock bags or vacuum-sealed pouches. They thaw in minutes under warm running water.

Pasta sauce — leftover passata is the start of a quick weeknight pasta sauce. Add browned mince, sausage, anchovies, olives, capers, or whatever’s in the fridge.

Pizza topping leftovers — if you’ve got odds and ends from a pizza session (capsicum, mushroom, salami, herbs), simmer them through the passata for a chunkier sauce.