It’s no secret that customers love their pizza. Crust and high-quality ingredients top the list of most important factors when ordering a pie for 44% of pizza aficionados, but even more — roughly 50% — want “more authentic” pies.1
From crusts and dough balls to pizza sauces, Alive & Kickin’ products are proven to help you deliver on all three customer must-haves...now, let’s go next-level with your menu offerings. Our experts invite you into our kitchen for some pro pizza saucing tips and delicious recipes featuring our Arthur Avenue Fully Prepared Sauces.
6 Pro Pizza Saucing Tips
The utensil you choose for saucing pizza determines the process. Spoons and ladles/spoodles are generally the most popular tools for the job, so following these simple steps ensures every bite is the perfect one for discerning pizza lovers.
Spoon Application
1. Always work from the middle of the pizza crust out. Start by spooning sauce onto the center of the pizza crust.
2. Use windshield wiper motions to spread sauce evenly out to the crust’s edge.
3. Rotate the pizza crust while spreading sauce to prevent wrist and hand cramping.
Ladle/Spoodle Application
1. Always work from the middle of the pizza crust out. Start by ladling sauce onto the center of the pizza crust.
2. Use a circular motion to spread sauce evenly out to the crust’s edge. Do not push down on the ladle/or spoodle. Let the tool do the work by “floating” it over the sauce.
3. Unlike spoon application, there’s no need to rotate the pizza crust during saucing.
Regardless of the kitchen utensils you prefer, using these techniques results in a smooth, even sauce layer — no large ridges or rings of sauce at the crust’s edge to ruin the customer experience!
Recipes to Make You a Sauce Boss
Not surprisingly, pizza sauces for pizzerias are often scratch-made, closely held family recipes that, like crusts, are the basis for a restaurant’s signature pies. Fully prepared pizza sauces rarely rival scratch-made in the minds of operators or customers — unless they’re Arthur Avenue Fully Prepared Sauces by Alive & Kickin’.
Made from authentic Italian recipes and the highest-quality ingredients, these sauces give you spent-all-day-in-the-kitchen taste in a fraction of the time. But don’t just take our word for it. Put them to the test in these customer-pleasing recipes:
Spicy Marinara
2T extra virgin olive oil
1T minced garlic
1 - 5.5 oz. can, petite diced tomatoes (high-quality) or 1 lb. fresh
Pinch of fresh thyme
1t crushed red pepper flakes (adjust according to desired spice level)
5 lb. Alive & Kickin’ Ready To Use Pizza Sauce
Preheat large sauté pan to medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add petite diced tomatoes and cook off excess moisture. Add pizza sauce and simmer for 5-8 minutes. Serve hot and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Meatball Bake
2T extra virgin olive oil
1T minced garlic
1/4C chopped fresh basil
1/2t crushed fennel seed
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1C diced tomatoes
1.5 lb. meatballs (1 oz. or larger), seared or oven-browned
1/2C Parmesan cheese
2 lb. Alive & Kickin’ Ready To Use Pizza Sauce
Preheat large sauté pan to medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, crushed fennel, and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and basil and cook excess moisture out of the pan. Add pizza sauce and combine. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Coat meatballs in sauce mixture and place in a greased half hotel pan. Pour remaining sauce over top, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400℉ for 10-15 minutes, or until Parmesan cheese is toasted.
Easy Mac ‘n’ Cheese Sauce
5 lb. Alive & Kickin’ Alfredo Sauce
1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
Salt and white pepper, to taste
Bring Alfredo sauce to a soft boil while constantly stirring. Slowly add shredded cheddar cheese until all has been added and melted. Add salt and white pepper to taste. If the mixture becomes too thick, add milk or cream to adjust. If too thin, let cook in 5-minute increments until desired viscosity is achieved.
Brandy Cream Sauce
1T olive oil
2T minced garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste
2.5 oz. brandy
6 oz. Alive & Kickin’ Alfredo Sauce
4 oz. lobster stock
4 oz. fresh diced tomatoes
Preheat medium sauté pan to medium high heat. Add olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft, about 2 minutes. Add brandy and cook to remove alcohol. Add lobster stock and reduce for 3 minutes. Add Alfredo sauce and combine. Bring to a boil to thicken the sauce. Serve hot over lobster ravioli.
Saucing pizzas and crafting recipes that showcase delicious, time-saving fully prepared pizza sauces is part science, part art. Alive & Kickin’ brings it all together with pre-made products that make your menu fabulous — and your kitchen efficient. Check out our extensive line by downloading the Alive & Kickin’ Product Overview. Click the button to access your copy of the guide now!
