What Is Tomato Pie And How Is It Different From Pizza?

The comedian Kevin James once said: "There's no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap.” But has Kevin James ever come away from a bakery or specialty food shop in, say, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a lukewarm or room-temperature box of tomato pie on his lap? In cities like Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Utica, New York (near the center of the state), tomato pie — a cousin of pizza with a focaccia-like crust, thick topping of slightly sweet tomato sauce, and little to no cheese – coexists peacefully with its mozzarella-shrouded and pepperoni-dotted contemporaries. Tomato pie has its own distinct, saucy personality, and it has its own legions of passionate, you could say 'a-dough-ring' fans (per Eater).

If you didn't grow up eating tomato pie in one of its hotbeds, you might well wonder: Where did this thick-crust pizza-like impersonator come from? Some suggest that tomato pie is the Americanized version of sfincione, a tall, crusty, olive-oil infused square of street food that's common in southern Italy, specifically Palermo (per Saveur). The dough is topped with a sauce that gets its savory-salty flavor from anchovies and the sauce is topped with flavor-forward caciocavallo cheese, applied with a light hand, according to Sanpellegrino.

The late 19th century and early 20th century brought millions of Italian immigrants to the United States, including many who fled economic hardship in southern Italy (per PBS). These immigrants fanned out from Ellis Island, settling in cities like Philadelphia, and going to work in the city's bakeries (via Insider Food on YouTube). At the end of the day, the story goes, the workers used any extra bread to create rustic tomato pies. "It's not pizza dough,” Insider's Taryn Varricchio noted at Sarcone's Bakery, a more-than-century-old bakery in South Philly where tomato pie newbies and 'afficiona-doughs' grab wax-paper wrapped squares and rectangular, tomato-slicked pies to go. "It's very airy and kind of light.”

The Trenton, New Jersey, area has its own take on tomato pie, according to BestofNJ.com: It's thin, crisp, round, and best described as a "regional pizza style” (per Eater). Whatever you call it, it's a conversation starter, with its tomato topping hiding a layer of cheese over the crust.

The tomato pie of Central New York, specifically the Utica-Rome area, is a slice of daily life, noted for its thick, red sauce top, sprinkling of grated cheese, and spongy, bread-like bottom (per Saveur). Saveur singled out Utica's Roma Sausage & Deli, but Utica Yelp has other recommendations, including some pizza parlors and a baking company best known for its half-moon cookies, another regional specialty. Can't get to Utica? The I Love New York tourism website spotlights a recipe.

In the Southern United States, tomato pie is another thing entirely — and sometimes comes with instructions to "eat on the front porch, with a glass of sweet tea” (per Discover South Carolina). Southern tomato pie might have started out as a dessert pie, made with a filling of chopped, unripe tomatoes tossed with sugar, cinnamon, and other spices before it evolved into the savory pie that devotees think of today. This quintessential dish is typically made during the summer months when ripe heirloom tomatoes are bountiful and folks need a break from tomato sandwiches and BLTs (per Southern Living).

Tomato pie shows up on menus at some southern restaurants, including Stono Market and the Tomato Shed Cafe in St. John's Island, South Carolina, where it's served as a side dish and has earned at least one rave review on TripAdvisor. For the most part, southern-style tomato pie is made at home, using common ingredients like onions or shallots, garlic, bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise (Duke's preferred) for even more richness. A key step is salting the sliced tomatoes and drying them with paper towels to remove some moisture before assembling the pie (per Saveur).