Easy Tomato Pie Recipe - Just is a Four Letter Word (2024)

FAQs

What is another name for tomato pie? ›

A 1903 article in the New-York Tribune on the food of Italian-Americans described a "pomidore pizza", or tomato pie, made solely with dough, tomatoes, and powdered red pepper. Tomato pie has been sold by Iannelli's Bakery in Philadelphia since 1910.

Leftover Heirloom Tomato Pie must be refrigerated. Store slices or parts of the pie in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The pie will last up to three days in the fridge and can be reheated at 325°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not freeze tomato pie.

Tomato pie was brought to Philadelphia by Southern Italian immigrants in the early twentieth century. The crust is based on a focaccia-like dough popular in the city of Palermo, Sicily, shown here in 1910.

The Italians called the tomato pomodoro (“golden apple”), which has given rise to speculation that the first tomatoes known to Europeans were yellow. It has been suggested that the French called it pomme d'amour (“love apple”) because it was thought to have aphrodisiacal properties.

It's a savory pie, not sweet, filled with fresh garden tomatoes, sprinkled with basil, and held together with a mixture of mayonnaise and shredded cheese. The egg in the mayo acts as a binder to help hold the filling in place.

A freshly baked home-made tomato pie should be good for about 2 to 4 days when kept in the fridge. If you've bought your tomato pie from a store, there'll often be a sell-by date on the packaging which should give you a good idea of its freshness. But after you open it, it's safer to eat within 3-5 days.

You find tomato pie throughout the Carolinas, especially the flat coastal areas of the low country—like at Charleston's Dixie Supply Bakery & Cafe, or King's Farm Market, on South Carolina's Edisto Island.

If a pie contains eggs or dairy products, it should be stored in the refrigerator and not left out at room temperature for more than two hours. Pies that do not contain dairy products, such as fruit pies can be stored, loosely covered at room temperature for up to two days.

Philadelphia's classic tomato pie is a delicious thick and chewy crust topped with a savory tomato sauce-like topping – kind of like a foccacia or Sicilian pizza without mozzarella. Southern tomato pie is basically a traditional pie crust filled with cheese and tomatoes in it and maybe also …

The Ancient Egyptians were the first to invent a dish close to what we know as a pie today. They had a honey filling covered in a crusty cake made from oats, wheat, rye or barley. A recipe for chicken pie was also discovered on a tablet carved prior to 2000 BC.

Was pizza called tomato pie? ›

Once upon a time, almost all pizza — then a word unknown to the general American public outside Italian enclaves — was called tomato pie in the United States.

After baking, refrigerate the pie once it is cool enough to handle. Then, as you bring it back to room temperature for serving, only leave the pie out for 2 hours or less. In other words, don't leave the pies out all day prior to Thanksgiving dinner, whether you make them the day before or bake them in the morning.

New Haven–style pies

The dish is said to have originated in 1925 at Frank Pepe's Pizzeria, one of the oldest and best-known pizzerias in the US, which is also known for its white clam pizza pies.

Utica tomato pie is a regional dish popular in Utica, New York, and surrounding areas. It is distinct from traditional pizza in that it typically lacks cheese or has only a minimal amount, and the sauce is spread on top of the crust rather than underneath any toppings.

Somehow during its transatlantic journey, Sicilian pizza shed the onions and anchovies and was renamed, Ellis Island–style, "tomato pie." Many of the best tomato pies are baked in the same ovens — and from the same dough — as the hoagie rolls that hold Philly's famous sandwiches.