I just use a bit of purée, at most passata. I don't see why the end result would be much different (if you were saying blend fresh, sure, but canned whole/chopped vs. already puréed/passata'd?) and it's less work.
After a quick image search, I think there might be a regional difference, and we don't mean the same thing by purée; I mean something fairly viscous that comes in small jars or tubes, like this:
I can't immediately find an image squirting any, but it's about the consistency of toothpaste. Thicker than pesto. Much thicker than passata or anything sold as a 'pasta sauce'.
That's the stuff. Add a bit of olive oil and it can be spread, and is IMO perfect for doing so over a pizza base. ('course you'd spread it round the other way, but it probably tastes the same.)
Probably yes. I think it's sold here (UK) under that name too - for some reason (not sure if justified) I imagine that being a jar rather than a tube.
But anyway, yes, a tomato by any name ~would smell as sweet~ reduced that much to a sort of jam-like consistency.
If anything it's too thick for pizza - but oil's going on anyway right, so I just mix it with a bit (and usually some chopped chillies) and it's perfectly spreadable without being too saucy.
Yes I would say the ones I typically get are too (in the UK). The colouring is a bit off there - I was just glad to find one showing the consistency roughly.
