Hi,

If you are making a Neapolitan style pizza then I can help as the whole thing about the topping is that the starting point is that less is more. So you need a very small amount of intensely flavoured tomato rather than a lumpy wet mix which in my view also adds too much liquid.

My approach - just my own preference after lot's of playing and experimentation, you will be pleased to hear is really very very simple. No cooking down or using whole tomatoes or anything as tedious as that.

I up-end a decent good quality boxed or tinned passatta into a square lidded plastic sealable box (so I can keep it in the fridge) - and start to add.

My taste is to add a lot of sugar, some garlic powder, some celery salt, onion powder if you have some and some coarsely ground black pepper, a dot of chilli and loads of dried oregano. Just mix it all with a fork. I can't give precise amounts because it is to taste. So less first and add more or less of something next time you make a batch. Lot's of sugar and oregano though. That is it.

The important thing is that you must put less of this topping on your dough than you think is right in my case just a couple of meagre spoons - look at my earlier pictures - and dress the dough just before you put it into the oven so that the dough doesn't absorb all the wet from the sauce and become more dumpling than crisp base.

If this produces too much you can always freeze what you don't need in an icecube box and then always use a couple of cubes when you want a pizza.

The amount of tomato on this picture was for my wife's marinara one ie just that topping - so is more than I use on my own pizza. These pictures are of two different pizzas - not the same one.