Sauce Recipes for Chicago Thin Crust

[Aimless Ryan]

  For the record, I believe it's perfectly fine for us to declare Chicago pizza styles superior to other pizza styles inside the Chicago Style Forum.

OK, then I guess it's also perfectly fine for us to declare that there is no such thing as "Chicago thin crust" except in the minds of people who grew up in or near Chicago. (And here's a devil emoticon so no one will be sure if I'm arguing or joking:   )

[vcb]

So are you going to post a sauce recipe or just keep trolling this thread?

At this point, both would be either helpful or humorous.

[Garvey]

I'm with Ed.  Re-read my last post, Ryan.  That was directly to you, as nicely as it could be stated.  Enough threadcrapping.  No one forced you to respond to this topic.  If you have nothing but bile to add, then please take it elsewhere.  Life is too short to endure such constant venom.  I had grown to appreciate your newer, more helpful forum persona.  Bring that guy back.

[Garvey]

Aurelio's Sauce
28 oz Classico purée (or peeled ground if not available)
1/2 Tbs salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil

[pizza is love]

So are you going to post a sauce recipe or just keep trolling this thread?

At this point, both would be either helpful or humorous.

Just block Clueless, I already have.

[vcb]

Nah. That's no fun. 

[Aimless Ryan]

I got blasted and flamed for sharing information that was intended to be helpful. If you guys don't want me here, fine.

[Garvey]

Cal City Sauce^*
28 oz Cento crushed tomatoes, drained for 5 minutes
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder


^*Calumet City, IL, was the home of a particular sub-genre of Chicago thin.  John's was the most famous purveyor and has been much imitated by the likes of Langels and various other joints.  The signature characteristics of this style are (1) the somewhat doughier crust with "bones" (small by NY standard but slightly larger than the nearly nonexistent bones of typical Chicago thin) and (2) crumbled sausage instead of chunk.  As such, the sauce is usually brighter than other Chicago thin--both in a color sense and a culinary sense--which certainly helps balance the dough and sausage differences.  This sauce approximates the style.

[Garvey]

I got blasted and flamed for sharing information that was intended to be helpful. If you guys don't want me here, fine.

Dude, reread your posts.  "There's no such thing as Chicago thin" and "Most genuinely good pizzas don't require an elaborate sauce....Usually when a pizzeria's sauce has a lot of added flavorings, it's mostly in an effort to mask a crappy tomato product" are prime examples of threadcrapping.

You were hardly blasted or flamed, by me or anyone else.   

[vcb]

... and still no sauce recipe from him.

Sometimes, you just have to shake your head. 


Thanks for posting the sauce recipes, Garvey! 

[Garvey]

No need to insult other styles of pizza Garvey.  Less ingredients does not equate to a "blander, forgettable sauce".

No insults, Wahoo.  I was only replying to Ryan's assertion that Tommy's sauce was bad.  And it's not a style thing: most sauce--from sea to shining sea--is demonstrably bad. 

Starting from paste, yes, but not for all tomato products.  I would argue that the Chicago styles of pizza probably evolved from a lack of fresh, quality ingredients.  The addition of herbs and spices to the Chicago sauce was most likely to add some much needed interest to an otherwise boring paste-based sauce.  This is not to say that Chicago sauce is inferior, but I would find it hard to believe that anyone prefers straight tomato paste to good san marzanos out of the can.  Neapolitan pizza (and some NY) is all about preserving the flavors in the ingredients, while Chicago pizza is more about taking less exotic (read:worse) ingredients and making the final product greater than the sum of its parts.  There is beauty to be found in both philosophies.

I agree with some of this but not all.  Paste has a caramelized flavor that is desirable in many applications.  It is not an inferior product but a different one.  San Marzanos, out of the can, will work great for certain dishes, certain pizzas, etc., and for some things, they wouldn't work at all.  Same goes for paste.   

As for the food historicism aspects of all this, I dunno.  Interesting theory, but you're essentially asserting, "Chicago pizza is an alchemy of turning crap into gold."  I guess we can't all be as awesome as Naples or NY.   

[wahoo88]

As for the food historicism aspects of all this, I dunno.  Interesting theory, but you're essentially asserting, "Chicago pizza is an alchemy of turning crap into gold."  I guess we can't all be as awesome as Naples or NY.   

If that's your opinion, fine.  I, on the other hand, think that "turning crap into gold" is interesting and in many respects more difficult than just starting with "gold".  My response was not favoring one variety over the other, though. 

I agree with some of this but not all.  Paste has a caramelized flavor that is desirable in many applications.  It is not an inferior product but a different one.  San Marzanos, out of the can, will work great for certain dishes, certain pizzas, etc., and for some things, they wouldn't work at all.  Same goes for paste.   

Agreed, but my main point was that san marzanos have better captured the flavor of a fresh ripe tomato better than paste does.  Paste is favorable in many situations, but it is hard to argue that tomato paste has better captured the essence of a fresh tomato; it is inferior at this specific task. 

[Chicago Bob]

Well, here's another fine thread that has gone awry....I think you are all making some good points and if pride could be set aside; look back and see the positive in each post, and maybe this endeavor of Ed's can be salvaged. Otherwise, no one is going to have a resource available that they first have to weed through the chingao for the good stuff. At least not at this rate.....

Bob

[vcb]

Let's just say that the style of sauce that you typically find in a Chicago style thin crust pizza
predominantly leans toward the canned, and/or concentrated variety of tomato, and not fresh. 

A puree, or in most cases, paste plus water, is what I think will get us the flavor base we're shooting for.

** I have typically experienced that people in Chicagoland just call it "thin crust",
but I call it "Chicago style thin crust" to differentiate it from other thin crust
from other cities, which may be similar, or not similar to the style.
Arguments on whether the style exists have already taken place in other threads.
WE'RE TALKIN' CHICAGO THIN CRUST SAUCE HERE! Let's keep it civil and on topic, OK? OK. S'alright? S'alright. :-) **

[Musky]

I like to make Wisconsin Thin Crust pizza sauce using a little of this, a little of that, and sometimes even a little whatnot.  Sometimes I use paste, sometimes puree, sometimes a crushed product like 6 in 1.  I rarely am looking to have the sauce taste exactly the same way every time.  And I always go light on the sauce.  Most pizzas have way too much sauce.

Of course, that's for Wisconsin Thin Crust pizza.  It's probably a lot different than Chicago Thin Crust.

Kevin

[Garvey]

A puree, or in most cases, paste plus water, is what I think will get us the flavor base we're shooting for.

Interestingly enough, some brands of purée list only two ingredients on the can: tomato paste and water.  The grocery store brand nearby is one such, and IIRC, there are a few others.  Classico purée, OTOH, is the real deal.

And I always go light on the sauce.  Most pizzas have way too much sauce.

Is that a personal preference or a Wisconsin thing?  I often find the opposite--not nearly enough sauce.  Most places, I need to ask for a little extra sauce when ordering.  That's a personal preference, I think, but a few of my friends have expressed the same thing (fellow Chicagoland ex-pats) where they live.  Maybe Chicago goes a little heavier than typical on the sauce, and we grew up used to that.  (That's one of the things I love about frozen HRI: it is the sauciest pie in the frozen section, by far.)

Well, here's another fine thread that has gone awry....I think you are all making some good points and if pride could be set aside; look back and see the positive in each post, and maybe this endeavor of Ed's can be salvaged.

I may have been overly long winded in my post about paste, but I stand by it.  If I can't be a pizza chauvinist HERE, on the Chicago forum, then where can I be?    The Neo/NY fans are always looking down on us Second City folks...second class, I tell ya!   

(BTW,your irony meter broken, Bob?)

[Chicago Bob]

I like to make Wisconsin Thin Crust pizza sauce using a little of this, a little of that, and sometimes even a little whatnot.  Sometimes I use paste, sometimes puree, sometimes a crushed product like 6 in 1.  I rarely am looking to have the sauce taste exactly the same way every time.  And I always go light on the sauce.  Most pizzas have way too much sauce.

Of course, that's for Wisconsin Thin Crust pizza.  It's probably a lot different than Chicago Thin Crust.

Kevin

You're absolutely right Kevin. Us folks in Chicago measure everything so get the hell out with that and don't come back till you understand the rules. 

Bob

[dmckean44]

Is that a personal preference or a Wisconsin thing?  I often find the opposite--not nearly enough sauce.  Most places, I need to ask for a little extra sauce when ordering.  That's a personal preference, I think, but a few of my friends have expressed the same thing (fellow Chicagoland ex-pats) where they live.  Maybe Chicago goes a little heavier than typical on the sauce, and we grew up used to that.  (That's one of the things I love about frozen HRI: it is the sauciest pie in the frozen section, by far.)

It's a Chicago thing, I grew up downstate in Peoria but I lived briefly in Chicagoland for a while about 15 years ago. The pies were similar but in general a Chicago thin crust is going to be more heavily sauced than say Monical's.

[Musky]

You're absolutely right Kevin. Us folks in Chicago measure everything so get the hell out with that and don't come back till you understand the rules. 

Bob

I've had it with you snobs and your carefully measured sauces, your sauce on top casseroles,  and your perennially mediocre professional football team.  I might go to your Chit Chat thread and make thinly veiled insults.

I really do think most pizzas have way too much sauce.  We have some fantastic thin crust here in the Milwaukee area, and I almost always go light on the sauce.  Personal preference I guess.  Probably why I get by with the little of this, a little of that, and maybe some whatnot style of sauce making.  I do the same thing when I make pasta sauce.

And get the hell out of the way when I make meatballs, because the air gets filled with spices when I start tossing them in the meat.

Kevin

[Chicago Bob]

(BTW,your irony meter broken, Bob?)

Well, I don't think so Garvey....my G/F said all my shirts came out fine on Sunday(that's her chore day). 

Bob