I don't cook most tomato sauces for hours, like the general notion
suggests. My view is that a short cook keeps more of the fresh tomato
flavor. Fully ripe tomatoes are best.

To that end, getting rid of skins, seeds and the "tomato snot" that
surrounds the seeds is a giant step toward getting a thicker sauce while
still preserving the freshness. I "clean" the tomatoes and chop them
coarsely. Saute in olive oil (with onion, fresh herbs, or whatever) for
20-30 minutes and run a wand blender in it for a while. Usually not to
make a smooth puree, but to still preserve some small chunks to give it
a bit of "bite."

Did that yesterday to put on this 16", deep dish pizza, the crust of
which I cracked flipping it out of the pan. Three ripe tomatoes with
other stuff for the sauce. <http://i1.tinypic.com/o8dyls.jpg>

Used the rest of the dough to make two smooth-crusted loaves and two
rustic loaves. <http://i1.tinypic.com/o8e1cl.jpg>

Big high-gluten flour usage day...

Pastorio