Whole or crushed tomatoes – what AVPN actually starts from
AVPN starts from whole, hand-crushed tomatoes, not tinned crushed tomato. How the texture differs, and how to test it yourself in the kitchen.
Quick answer: AVPN’s disciplinare doesn’t start from ready-crushed tinned tomato — it starts from whole, peeled tomatoes (pomodoro pelato) that are crushed by hand just before they go on the dough (a quick blitz in the blender is the house method’s shortcut, not AVPN’s). Buy a tin that’s already crushed or passata instead, and you lose some control over the texture — and often end up with a wetter sauce than necessary.
What AVPN actually specifies
The disciplinare specifies San Marzano-type tomatoes or pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio — whole, peeled tomatoes, not a ready-made passata or tinned crushed tomato. The tomatoes are crushed by hand right before use, often just with your fingers or a fork, possibly with a few short pulses in a blender. That’s a different process from opening a tin labelled ”crushed tomatoes” and pouring the contents straight out. See tomatoes for pizza for what’s actually behind the San Marzano name and the DOP fraud you’ll find in shops.
Why it matters for the texture
A tin labelled ”crushed tomatoes” or ”passata” is usually already blended smooth, sometimes with added tomato juice or water to make it easier to pour. That gives a smoother but also more liquid base. Crush whole, peeled tomatoes yourself instead, and you keep some of the tomato’s own structure and dry matter, and decide for yourself how coarse or fine the texture ends up — from rustic and chunky to almost smooth.
Tinned crushed vs. self-crushed, at a glance
| Ready-crushed in a tin | Whole tomatoes you crush yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Texture | Smooth, often wetter | You decide the coarseness and structure |
| Added liquid | Often tomato juice or water in the tin | None, just tomato and maybe salt |
| Control | Low — the factory has already decided | High — you crush right before use |
A practical test in your own kitchen
Drain the tin in a sieve for a minute or so before you crush the tomatoes — much of the liquid that makes a sauce watery actually comes from the juice in the tin, not the tomato itself. Then squeeze the tomatoes by hand straight into the bowl, or blitz them briefly in short pulses (see tomato sauce for the whole method). Want to compare? Crush half a tin by hand and blend the other half to a completely smooth purée, then bake two pizzas side by side — the difference in how the sauce sits on the dough versus running towards the rim is easy to see.
Frequently asked questions
Do the tomatoes have to be San Marzano DOP? No. AVPN also allows pomodorino del Piennolo and other good-quality tomato varieties — what matters is whole, peeled tomatoes with high dry matter, not the name on the label.
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead? You can, but it means peeling and deseeding them yourself, which rarely pays off compared with good tinned tomatoes picked in season.
Read more about what’s actually on the tin in tomatoes for pizza, the full sauce method in tomato sauce, and if the sauce still ends up too wet on the pizza, see wet pizza.
