Hey there Flagpull - a friend of mine used to work at Donato’s back in the day, so I asked him what he might remember. Donato's is of course pretty secretive (as everyone is) about their recipes, but here's what I got.
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The dough came to the store pre-made and frozen. We would just take the shells of the dough and put it into a machine that would thaw them. The sauce was canned....2 cans of tomato paste, 1 can of crushed tomatoes of the same brand. I can't remember the exact brand of sauce and paste. The kicker is that there was plastic jar of seasoning that you would pour into the sauce mix that was put together else-where, came already mixed to the store. This is what really makes Donato's pizza and they keep it relatively protected. Everything else...vegetables, pepperoni, sausage...etc. is purchased from outside sources.
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I tried making some sauce this eve using 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and 2 cans of tomato paste - the 5oz cans I think? - and the consistency came out just about right. From there it's just guesswork, but I used some pretty standard stuff - oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, a little bit of sugar, and some marjoram for fun. Tastes pretty good room-temp, but the true test will come when it's on a pizza of course.
I've also gotten some guidance from the guys on the board on the dough. Seems Round Table pizza makes their pizza in a very similar way. There's a lot of info on the Round Table pizza's out there. I plan on getting a perforated pan and trying out a round table recipe with this homemade sauce, some wonderful provolone cheese, and "over 100 slices of pepperoni"! haha!
I'm also going to ask my friend some more specific questions - if there's anything you think might be helpful to ask, let me know. I know there's not too many of us Donato's freaks here on the boards, but working together I know we'll crack the recipe!!
