Part of the fun of visiting a gourmet pizza restaurant is ordering pizzas that you don't typically find at chain establishments. At the former type of eatery, you may find marinara pizza on the menu. This isn't a type of pizza that many people are familiar with, although you may be aware of marinara sauce as a dip for different Italian-inspired fare. If you like the idea of ordering a simple pizza, perhaps because your appetite is only moderate, marinara pizza can be a good option to consider. Here are three things to know about marinara pizza.

It Doesn't Have Cheese

The biggest thing that sets marinara pizza apart from other pies on the menu of a pizza restaurant is that it doesn't contain any cheese. In most cases, marinara pizza will be the only type of pizza on the menu that is devoid of cheese. This helps to make this pizza a lighter option for certain occasions, but it can also be a good choice for those who try to avoid having too much dairy in their diets. If you're lactose intolerant, for example, marinara pizza will be safe for you to eat. Don't confuse a marinara pizza with a margherita pizza, which has a similar-sounding name but features cheese.

The Sauce Is High Quality

In a marinara pizza, tomato sauce is the main ingredient. This means that it's of an extremely high quality that you won't likely find tastes comparable to the tomato sauce at any chain restaurants you've visited. Gourmet pizza establishments put lots of effort into their marinara sauce, using top-quality — and even imported — ingredients to improve the taste of the sauce. In addition to tomatoes, you'll also detect flavor notes of garlic, oregano, basil, and other herbs. The high-quality taste of the sauce can make you enjoy each bite even if there's no cheese.

There May Be Minimal Other Ingredients

Traditional marinara pizza only consists of marinara sauce on the dough, but you'll occasionally come across a pizza restaurant that offers a slight twist on this traditional method. In some cases, a marinara pizza may have one or more ingredients on top of the sauce. These ingredients tend to appear in small amounts, however, so that they don't overpower the delicate flavor notes of the sauce. For example, you might find anchovies or capers sprinkled across the top of the pizza. Visit a local pizzeria to enjoy a marinara pizza.