Blame my Indian taste buds that were so used to heady spices in every meal, but for a long time, I did not care for marinara. To be fair, most of these sentiments were formed during my first year away from India, while I was still adjusting to real ‘American’ food – not the kind we get back in India where even Big Mac and KFC buckets have a few extra spices in them to cater to the local clientele.
My first taste of marinara came in the form of Spaghetti ala marinara. Anticipation faded into disappointment as I slurped my first mouthful of pasta – the tomato sauce, that could have otherwise benefited greatly from a little masala, seemed lonely without them. And I steered clear of marinara in menus ever since.
But I had forgotten something that my grandmother once taught me. “Never, never write something off”. And as always, the woman was right. After another disappointing experience with store bought marinara, I decided to take matters into my own hands- a concept that is frowned upon in matters of justice, but is highly recommended when it comes to food.
But wait a minute… why am I rambling on about marinara when this post is titled ‘The best (spicy) 5 minute Pizza sauce ever!’???
That’s cause, this sauce doubles as the most amazing Pizza sauce AND an incredibly delicious marinara!!!! It has now become my go-to all-purpose tomato sauce that I dribble on literally anything that could do with a little tomato sauce. I’ve even put them inside quesadillas and it tastes GREAT!
The secret ingredient? Fried dry red chillies. I usually keep a never-ending stock of fried red chilli flakes in my pantry. It’s a ‘Burmese’ habit that got passed down to me from my grandmother who grew up in Burma and couldn’t imagine life without a sprinkle of this magical stuff.
Making Fried dry red chilli flakes
It’s maddeningly simple to make – Heat a few spoons of oil in a small pan, fry a handful of dry red chillis for a few seconds until they start to brown a bit. Take them out immediately before they loose their gorgeous red color, but do not discard the oil. Save it for use in curries or stir fries because it creates a whole new dimension of heat in a dish.
Blitz the fried red chillis in a small food processor till it breaks up into a semi-fine clumpy powder. Store for several months and use in any dish that deserves a little heat.
This fried red chilli powder is the magical ingredient that takes this pizza sauce from ordinary to extraordinary! Another reason why this sauce is so intensely flavoured (trust me, it’s not just because of the heat), is because of the use of tomato ‘paste’ as opposed to tomato pureé.
Tomato paste is just tomato pureé that’s been roasted with olive oil until the liquid has completely evaporated and all that remains is an intensely earthy, dense paste of richly flavoured tomato flesh. You can make it yourself, but seeing as how I am trying to sell this off as a 5-minute deal, I used it straight out of a can.
It’s the simplest thing ever! Just combine all the ingredients, let it marinate for a few hours and that’s it! Bottled up deliciousness, ready to use. You can use it immediately, but I’ve noticed that the flavours need a couple of hours at least to mature and mingle a bit.
If using as a pizza sauce, just spread a few spoonfuls of it on a rolled out sheet of pizza dough and bake as usual. Check out my 35 minute pizza post. It’s the most simplest pizza base recipe I’ve ever come across. Now making myself a pizza from scratch is faster than the pizza delivery guy!
If using as marinara with pasta or chicken, sauté some onions, fresh tomato, a generous piling of the homemade pizza sauce and let it simmer for a minute before adding freshly cooked pasta. Season with fresh herbs, cheese and serve hot!
Ingredients
Method
- Combine all the ingredients in a clean, sterile jar. Refrigerate for atleast 2-3 hours before using, for the flavours to mingle.
- Store refrigerated for 2-3 weeks, frozen for 3 months.
Saptarshi Dhar says
It looks tasty! Everyone needs a sauce in their dish. Your recipe is great. Keep it up.
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Saptarshi! It remains our family favorite still!
Jon says
Look, I approached this with skepticism, I really did. I am very particular about pizza sauce. I also love spicy food, and most recipes give you a weird, nasty, slimy spaghetti sauce that has no business at all on a pizza. I added a couple spices to my taste (smoked paprika + onion powder), and I also simmered the sauce because I was in a hurry. But I thought good pizza sauce was harder than this. I really did. I thought I would have to morph into an Italian grandma to get this right. I like zesty, spicy, pasty sauce with just enough gelatinous slime to wet the dry spots in the dough. This recipe was killer. You helped me make a perfect pizza the very first time I ever made my own dough and cooked it in a cast iron. I’ll keep this on an index card like my mom used to do so I will always have it to reference. Thanks!
andy says
it was lovely
Divisha says
Hi Tina thanks for pizza sauce recipe sounds yummy.so there is no need to cook this sauce on the gas , even though you have added 2/3 cup of water, we just have to mix all ingredients and bottle it up right ?pls reply thank you
Divisha says
Waiting for your reply Tina
Tina Dawson says
Sorry Divisha, somehow I did not get the email notification for this comment! Yup, no cooking. Just stir and let it sit for a couple of hours to absorb the flaovurs! Since you’re using tomato paste, there is no need to cook. Tomato paste itself is a reduced, cooked form of tomatoes. Hope you like it!
Ludmilla says
Everything looks delicious!! I love the fried red chilies…
Tina Dawson says
It’s what sets this sauce apart from the others! Glad you liked it Ludmilla! 🙂
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
Yum! I’ve never seen a pasta/pizza sauce that didn’t need any cooking but what a great idea to mix it all together and let the flavors mingle on their own.
Tina Dawson says
I was surprised too Annemarie…. but somehow it just works!
Suchi@elegant meraki says
Oh wow Tina I never thought about spicing up marinara sauce! I too used to stay away from marinara! Looks like frying those chili’s will solve the problem.
Tina Dawson says
Absolutely Suchi! Try and let me know, it really changed my world!
Jackie Garvin says
A basic tomato sauce is something everyone needs in their recipe files. Your version is excellent.
Tina Dawson says
Thanks so much Jackie!
Lisa | Garlic + Zest says
How spicy are those peppers? I like a little kick so I’m sure this would be delicious!
Tina Dawson says
I picked these up at a Mexican store and it packs quite a punch. I’ve used just 1 tsp in this recipe and it’s quite spicy for my Indian tongue. If you are planning to make this, use your own chillies – as much as you can handle