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Windsor Style Pizza Marinara Sauce

A classic marinara pizza sauce with the slightest kick, plenty of bright flavour, and the hint of oregano. This will work for all your pizzas, stromboli, dipping sauce etc.
Course Condiment
Cuisine Italian
Keyword harissa, marinara sauce, oregano, pizza sauce
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small to medium onion chopped
  • 1 to 2 medium cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Harissa powder or paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika, just don't use Hungarian Hot
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
  • 14 oz (400 ml) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp sugar optional
  • 1 tbsp fresh finely chopped oregano

Instructions

  1. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onions and cook till just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the thyme, Italian seasoning, oregano and Harissa as well as the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the paprika, crushed chili flakes, and tomato paste. Stir to coat the onions and garlic.
  3. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and butter. Stir well. Drop the heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes, until thickened. Add the parmesan cheese towards the end of simmering. Taste to see if the sauce has a acidic taste (this can happen with some tomatoes) If so, add some or all of the sugar to smooth out the flavour.
  4. Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaf, and stir through the chopped fresh oregano.
  5. Let it cool down and then transfer to a jar with a lid, storing it in the fridge till needed. You should get about 2 cups of sauce. Feel free to double the recipe. This will give you plenty for this recipe, and some to freeze as well.

Recipe Notes

For Windsor Style pizza, shred your pepperoni instead of just using slices.

A small can of sliced mushrooms may not seem like a big thing, but boy does it add to the flavour of your finished pizza. The meaty flavour will be intact, instead of fresh mushrooms drying up in the oven.  See the blog post for the reasons why!

To get close to the melty cheesy goodness of the Galati cheese that is used on all Windsor Style pizzas, for every cup of grated cheese use 3/4 cup high fat pizza mozzarella, and 1/4 shredded fontina or havarti.