🍅 Italian-Inspired · Sauces
Large-Batch Pizza Sauce
A smooth production tomato sauce enriched with caramelised onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme.
Behind the plate
This is a kitchen-volume pizza sauce built from both chopped tomatoes and a prepared pizza-sauce product. Fresh vegetables bring sweetness and body, while thyme and garlic give the large batch a savoury backbone.
The vegetables are cooked before the tomato enters the pot, then everything simmers for an hour and is blended smooth. Recording the exact tin and bag sizes is essential before the formula can be scaled reliably.
Why this recipe works
Caramelising onion with sugar develops sweetness, carrot and celery add natural body, and a long tomato simmer concentrates the sauce. Blending at the end creates an even texture for spreading without reducing the vegetables to a raw purée.
The recipe
Ingredients
- Neutral cooking oil, as needed
- 4 tins chopped tomatoes (tin size not supplied)
- 2 bags prepared pizza sauce (bag weight not supplied)
- 5 large onions, roughly chopped
- 8 carrots, roughly chopped
- 3 heads celery, roughly chopped
- 100 g garlic, chopped
- 100 g fresh thyme, tied or picked
- 250 g granulated sugar
- Fine salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
- Heat enough oil to coat the base of a large heavy pot. Add the onions, garlic and thyme and sweat until soft.
- Add the sugar and continue cooking until the onions begin to caramelise without burning.
- Add the celery and carrots and cook for approximately 15 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and prepared pizza sauce. Bring to the boil, then lower to a gentle simmer.
- Cook for approximately 1 hour, scraping the base often until every vegetable is tender and the flavour is concentrated.
- Remove any tied herb stems and blend with a heavy-duty stick blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning and consistency.
- Use hot, hold safely for service, or cool rapidly in shallow containers before refrigerating.
Chef’s notes
- Record the drained or net weight of all four tomato tins and both pizza-sauce bags; package counts alone do not define a repeatable recipe.
- Prepared pizza sauce may already contain sugar, salt and herbs, so taste before adjusting the final batch.
- Tie whole thyme sprigs so the woody stalks can be removed before blending.
- Blend hot sauce only with equipment rated for the batch size and follow its safe-fill instructions.
At the table
Spread a thin even layer over pizza dough, or use as a base for baked pasta, meatballs and toasted sandwiches.