Welcome to Tomato Week, Bon Appétit’s high-summer celebration of our all-time favorite fruit. Fill your totes with heirlooms and pack your pockets with Sun Golds: Each day, we’re sharing a brand new, extra-delicious way to make the most of this fleeting season.

Çılbır, a classic Turkish egg dish, marries garlicky yogurt with poached eggs and a spiced buttery drizzle. Here the dish gets dressed up for summer with the addition of juicy fresh tomatoes (and a slightly simpler egg preparation). By salting the tomatoes in advance and letting them sit in a sieve, you’ll draw out excess liquid that might otherwise run into the yogurt spread on the platter; you’ll add that tomato-y liquid to your smoky butter drizzle to amp up the seasonal flavor.

Throwing a lid on your pan when frying the eggs creates a thin white film over the yolks—a trick that mimics the look of a poached egg (traditional in çılbır) with a fraction of the effort. Feel free to swap in regular sunny-side up eggs, over-easy eggs, or even halved soft-boiled eggs if you prefer.

This simple, yet delicious homemade Neapolitan pizza style sauce is perfect for recreating your favourite pizzas at home.

Neapolitan Pizza Sauce

Made with simple ingredients including tomatoes, garlic and olive oil, this quick to prepare pizza sauce makes a smooth and flavourful base for your pizza.

To make a delicious pizza sauce, make sure you use the best quality ingredients you can find! The best tomatoes to use are the San Marzano ones.

Pizza Sauce Variations

• While in this recipe, I have heated the ingredients, if you are short on time, you can just mix all the ingredients together and use
• Add other herbs or spices can be added such as basil
• Add ½ an onion diced when you add the garlic if you wish
• If you want a super smooth sauce, blend the sauce, though this will make it slightly thinner / more runny

Storing Pizza Sauce

Store cooled sauce in an airtight container in the fridge. Use within one week.

This sauce can also be frozen. For easier use, freeze in small portions in a silicone muffin tray or a ice cube container so you only need to thaw a few blocks.

Once frozen use within two months.

Ingredients for Making Homemade Neapolitan Pizza Sauce

To make around 2 cups of pizza sauce, you will need:

• 14 oz Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 tsp Dried Oregano
• ½ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper
• ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

More Tomato Resources

Making Neapolitan Pizza Sauce

Pour the olive oil into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.

Mince the garlic, add to the olive oil and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, if using.

Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let it cool slightly before spreading on your pizza dough.

Spread evenly over the pizza base, leaving room around the edge of the base. 

Add your toppings, then cook your pizza.

More Recipes

Welcome to Tomato Week, Bon Appétit’s high-summer celebration of our all-time favorite fruit. Fill your totes with heirlooms and pack your pockets with Sun Golds: Each day, we’re sharing a brand new, extra-delicious way to make the most of this fleeting season.

Imagine the tender, flavorful filling of a pork dumpling—seasoned with soy sauce and brightened with a combination of ginger, garlic, and scallion. Now imagine that instead of a typical dumpling wrapper, it’s stuffed inside a juicy tomato, meant to be eaten with a fork and knife alongside a mound of rice. Cute and a little silly, it’s a fun way to use up an excess of summer tomatoes in a surprising and filling way, even straight from the baking dish.

This recipe calls for 8–10 slicer (or beefsteak) tomatoes because they can really vary in size. You’ll want all of the tomatoes full nearly to the top with your seasoned pork mixture; if your tomatoes are on the larger end, you may only have enough pork to stuff 8 in total.