Maple Beef Skewers and Next Level Pizza Sauce

The Hearth for October 10, 2025

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THE PIZZA FILES
Saucing it up from scratch
By James Norton

Becca Dilley Photography

Last weekend I had the good fortune to celebrate a milestone birthday with a group of friends from all over both time (many eras of my life) and space (everywhere from San Francisco to Madison to D.C.). We gathered at a summer camp halfway to Duluth, and used a woodfired pizza oven on site to make our first of two dinners for the assembled throngs.

Because I am a perfectionist/masochist, I made the dough from scratch for 36 persons’ worth of pizza, and then I assessed what to do about the sauce. I could do what I typically do at home, which is to say: buy small, expensive jars of Rao’s, which I’ve found to be the best pizza sauce on the market.

But at scale, it would be roughly $9,000 worth of sauce. Worth trying my own sauce from scratch, I figured.

Becca Dilley Photography

If you look at sauce recipes, they tend to skew minimalist - tomatoes, olive oil, salt, minimal processing. That’s great and I respect it. It’s also not what I’m looking for in a pizza sauce.

Something closer to a Tombstone is ideal - some herbal quality, some garlic, some oregano, a little heat, all of which bring the pizza closer to an East Coast pizzeria product rather than a rarified VPN sort of deal. So throwing caution to the wind, I bought a good (and gigantic) can of San Marzano tomatoes and improvised.

The result was absolutely delicious, with just a touch of heat and an herbal backbone that provided interest without overwhelming the toppings or tipping the balance of the pizza.

James Norton / Heavy Table

JIM’S 50th PIZZA SAUCE

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
About 100 oz. San Marzano tomatoes (one jumbo can) with basil, tomatoes hand crushed
4 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper
4-8 tsp salt to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Cook onions until they soften and begin to brown. Add tomatoes and stir in spices and salt to taste, then heat to a simmer. Remove from heat and immersion blend until relatively smooth.

MAPLE MEETS MEAT

We live in maple syrup country, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t let this subtle, nuanced nectar of tastiness infuse nearly every culinary project we tackle. Accordingly, this recipe from a Quebec-born chef published in The Art of BBQ brings together maple syrup, a bold blend of spices, and sirloin steak to make skewers with a caramelized depth that compels and delights. The skewers are in no way “sweet,” and guests will be hard-pressed to guess the X factor, but they definitely offer a savory profile that is enjoyable as heck.