Approximately Aurelio's Pizza and Pasta Sauce

Submitted by Chocolatl

"Aurelio's sauce has been a family secret since Joe Aurelio opened his first restaurant in Homewood, Illinois, in 1959. Some people call the sauce sweet, but I would describe it as mild and tomatoey. There is some controversy over whether the sauce actually contains beer or not. This is the recipe we have found to be closest to the original. If you don't wish to use beer, a little malt extract will add the same flavor. Thanks to HandsomeG and Gaga at pizzamaking.com for some clues that led me to create this recipe."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Yields: 5 cups, about 2-3 pizzas worth

ingredients

• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato puree
• 12 ounces beer
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes.

Reviews

[dutchgirl56]

I just have to say "Thank you Chocolat!" This pizza sauce may not be exactly Aurelios but its darn close! I make a lot of homemade pizzas and the one today was the best ever! I did let my sauce simmer for 4 hours to thicken but other than that I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks again!

 

[Muffin Goddess]

Not sure where Aurelio's is, but this reminds me of the sauce that they use at the pizza places near the beach in my region of the country. A bit sweeter than I usually make pizza sauce, but the beer keeps it from being overly sweet. I used this on a Shipyard beer-flavored pizza crust, topped with lots of shredded mozzarella, sliced Genoa salami and chopped-up portabella mushroom caps. This makes quite a bit of sauce (probably enough for at least 4 or 5 heavily-sauced large pizzas, I'm guessing), so I froze the remainder of my batch so it won't spoil before I can use it up (can't be filling up on personal pizzas right now, not with Quest food to be eaten, haha). Thanks for posting! Made for Culinary Quest I

 

[Studentchef]

I used this for my spaghetti last week and it was so delicious. It was full of flavour and was quite filling. This also made for some good leftovers, as it easily reheats and retains the same flavour as the day before.

 

[Boomette]

This is a great sauce. So yummy. I made 1 large pizza and 1 small pizza and froze the remaining sauce for later :) Great flavors. The sweetness was just perfect for us. Thanks Chocolatl :) Made for PRMR tag game

 

[lauralie41]

I made this sauce to top our linguine and it has a very nice flavor but for us a tad to sweet. To fix that I added a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste and a pinch of red pepper flakes. The beer is lovely in this but do keep an eye on the sauce when cooking because it creeps up the pan pretty quickly. :) I also liked that there was no meat added and it was a thick rich sauce. Thank you for sharing this recipe Pat! Made and reviewed for the Game Forum's - 123 Tag Game.