Mutti San Marzano peeled tomatoes, 6x 400g

Product Information

You know by now that a can of tomatoes is a great start to many Italian-inspired dishes, particularly pasta sauces. But you don’t need to stop there. When I first opened the can, the smell of tomatoes and basil hit me – a very familiar smell! It smelled fantastic, and I instantly recognized the smell. It really reminds me of proper Neapolitan pizza sauce. This is very promising! How Does It Taste?

Next was to try the taste. I first tasted the sauce raw. The taste of the tomatoes was delicious, definitely quality tomatoes (but not San Marzano). The taste of basil and oregano also really came through. The sauce was a little bit salty side, not very salty, but more than I expected, since it’s supposed to have less salt than I usually use in my own sauce. Let’s Try the Sauce on Pizza!Cirio (400g): 95p “Not bad actually cooked,” observered Dino “but over-pasteurised”. These are sweet, with a rich colour and some acidity. Available in most supermarkets. Score: 3.5/10 Lastly, and most importantly, how does it taste on pizza? To try the sauce, I made a classic Pizza margarita with mozzarella and fresh basil. Appearance: How do the tomatoes look coming out of the can? Are they a rich red color? More orange? Are the tomatoes intact and whole or are they squished and broken apart?

The main ingredient (99%) in Mutti pizza sauce is fresh tomatoes. In addition to that, it contains salt, basil, and oregano. Mutti’s recipe is therefore very similar to traditional Neapolitan pizza sauce. Since no animal products are used in the sauce, it’s also vegan. Tester after tester remarked that these Italian-style tomatoes from Cento tasted like a satisfying San Marzano tomato plus a little something extra. Of course, our Test Kitchen pros were right on the money: These tomatoes are real San Marzanos canned with a touch of salt and basil. The sauce is delicious, but it doesn’t taste quite as good as a traditional Neapolitan pizza sauce. I think the two main problems are that it’s not made from the best tomatoes (don’t get me wrong, they are great, but not the best), and that the basil is not fresh. In our quest for perfection, Joe sacrificed four tins from his precious collection. Dino chaperoned two tinned and two jarred tomatoes. I brought the rest, a mix of tinned tomatoes from online delicatessens and supermarkets. Napolina, Waitrose own brand, Heinz, Mr Organic and La Tarantella, all of which can be found in high-street grocers, didn’t score badly but paled in taste beside brands imported from Italy. In general, the standard was higher than we expected, although Ocado’s unpleasant own-brand offering was dubbed “a crime against humanity” by Joe. Joe’s years of tomato tasting had taught him “not to be deceived by trophies, baubles and badges that make them look impressive, when they don’t actually taste so good”. He was inspired. “I’m going to start eating my collection and experimenting,” he proclaimed.When it comes to tomatoes, quality is important. We’ve used our fair share of tinned tomato products over the years and come to realise that not all tins of tomatoes are created equal – there are massive differences in quality and flavour depending where you buy and how much you’re willing to spend. Good tomato products should have a nice deep red colour, a pure tomato flavour, a freshness and a sweetness. That’s not always easy to find, but for our money, Mutti tomato products have always delivered on all fronts. For over 120 years, Mutti have been working hard to ‘raise the tomato to its highest expression’ and celebrate Italy’s most iconic fruit. Even though the sauce is made from fresh, quality tomatoes, it can’t live up to the standard of San Marzano tomatoes. The can doesn’t state what kind of tomatoes are used, but I suspect it’s a cheaper type of plum tomatoes, despite the price of the sauce being as high, or even higher than, canned San Marzano tomatoes.

I must admit, in my early pizza career I did try a lot of store-bought pizza sauces, and they all tasted pretty bad. Some were too sweet (probably filled with cornstarch and other nasty things you don’t want in your pizza sauce). Others barely tasted like tomatoes at all (I don’t even know what was in those sauces…). I therefore gave completely up on store-bought sauce and promised myself many years ago that I would never buy a supermarket pizza sauce again. But after I heard about Mutti’s pizza sauce, I thought maybe I had to give store-bought pizza sauce one last chance. What is Mutti Pizza Sauce?

After much slicing, dicing and tasting, our Test Kitchen team found four brands of canned tomatoes that really stood out. Here are the favorites and how to use each. Best Homegrown Flavor: Hunt’s San Marzano Style Tomatoes Mutti pizza sauce can’t completely replace authentic Neapolitan pizza sauce, but it comes pretty close. The flavor is delicious, and it works perfectly on Pizza Margherita. I don’t think you’ll find any better pizza sauce in your local grocery store! Conclusion