Utica-Style Tomato Pie
Utica-Style Tomato Pie is a gooey, unctuous treat made with lots of tomatoes and very little cheese; it is traditionally served at room temperature. We started with the Sal Detraglia recipe but did a lot of tinkering to get the balance we wanted: sweet juicy tomato topping on a sturdy but not over-bready crust. Makes one 11×17 pie; the recipe can be multiplied which you will probably want to do on future bakes after you taste your first effort.
Ingredients, for the dough:
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
1 c durum flour*
1 t sugar
1 t yeast
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 t Kosher salt
1 ¼ c ice water, plus more if needed
For the sauce:
28-oz can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano or another quality Italian Roma tomato
6-oz can tomato paste
Additional tomatoes (optional): 4 fresh Romas roasted until soft OR half a smaller (about 14-oz) can of crushed tomatoes**
½ t or so Kosher salt (depending on how salty your tomatoes are out of the can)
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 1 T)
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T sugar
1/3 c finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
½ t dried oregano
Additional Extra Virgin Olive Oil as needed***
Method: add flours, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a orbital (eg Kitchenaid) mixer with dough hook, and run a few seconds on first speed to blend. With machine running, slowly add ice water and oil and mix until no dry flour is left, about 2 minutes. Dough should be cohesive but not sticky at the end; if needed add just a bit more water. Rest 10 minutes, then add salt and knead on second speed till dough is well developed, 6 minutes or a bit more. Transfer dough to a bowl liberally coated with olive oil and turn to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight and as long as 48 hours.
Dough will rise slightly during its 90 minute rest
On bake day, take the dough out of the refrigerator and bring it up to room temperature. Make the sauce: mix crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan and simmer 20 minutes until slightly thickened; remove from stove and reserve. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and form an 11×17 rectangle. You may need a rolling pin but you can probably push the dough to the edges with your hands. Transfer to a half sheet pan or silicone pad which has been coated generously with olive oil. Sprinkle a little more olive oil on top then cover with plastic wrap and rest 90 minutes during which time the dough will have a slight additional rise.
Ready to go in the oven
45 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 500 degrees and place a pizza stone on a middle rack. (If you use a silicone mat, you can preheat the half sheet pan directly, foregoing the pizza stone, then carefully transfer the formed dough on the pad into the pan [which you have temporarily moved to an insulated countertop surface] before adding the sauce.) At bake time, spread the sauce over the top of the dough, using a spatula to distribute it evenly, working with care to avoid deflating dough. Evenly distribute the cheese and oregano over the top, sprinkling with your hands.
The finished product
Place pie in oven, in preheated sheet pan or in cold pan on hot pizza stone, and lower the heat to 450 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then rotate 180 degrees and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven when the bottom of the pie is an even golden brown. Cool until the tomato topping solidifies (at least an hour), then slice into squares and serve.
*Sal Detraglia uses semolina flour for a sturdy crust and he uses more of it, which in our earlier tests caused the dough to tear. We used durum flour which is very similar to semolina but a finer grind. You could also make the pie with only all-purpose flour, but the result won’t have quite as much chew.
**The contents of the 28-oz tomato can and the tomato paste will give you sufficient sauce, but adding a little more tomato will make it extra-rich. Sal wants you to roast the tomatoes in the oven with oil, salt and pepper which is a lot of trouble; cooked tomatoes in a can will work fine.
***Utica pie places tend to use a lot of olive oil, which makes the pie crispy but possibly a bit greasy. A light coating on the surface of the sheet pan/silicone pad and more on the top of the dough is enough for us. You might want to drizzle a little more olive oil around the very edges of the pan after the pie is formed; this will give some extra crispiness to the outside edges, a treat for those who prefer these cuts.
Last picture looks overdone to me, especially around the edges. Your piece from the title shot looks spot on, however. Maybe it’s just a lighting thing. I recall that most tomato pie I had growing up (Utica native here) almost had a par-baked crust that never really had any crunch to it whatsoever, especially after sitting around at room temperature for the day, the sauce would meld with the dough forming a unique slightly spongy/doughy texture. Roma Sausage on Bleecker St. still makes the best tomato pie, hands down (although Perreca’s in Schenectady is a decent second).
By the title shot you mean the big single slice at the top of the post, yes? It’s cut from the same pie and the crust was browned but by no means overdone…. though I’m fascinated by your comments on the par-baked pies of your youth. The durum/semolina gives the dough a lot of strength so it doesn’t need a fierce bake to do its work. I agree that Roma is the best in Utica of the dozen or so slices I’ve tried, though I haven’t tried O’Scuzz because they won’t sell a single slice of their tomato pie. Will have to make a return trip with particular attention to the crust. I do like Perreca’s slice locally but I actually think the gelato shop across the street does a better job… but it was crisper so I can see why you’d go for Perreca.
What is your favorite way to make a lobster roll?
We are among the few who do not wax ecstatic at the thought of a lobster roll; too much trouble to get the meat and too much to pay for mild flavor. When we do eat a roll (at Eddie F’s in Saratoga Springs) we like it with lots of melted butter served hot or mixed with mayo and chopped celery and served cold.
I remember a woman from Perrecas cooking some of their recipes on a local morning news show on WNYT several years ago. She made the tomato pie. When she made the sauce she said the secret was it is never cooked. Just mix the ingredients together and put it the refrigerator for 2 days for the flavors to meld before using. I wish I could find the recipe that I printed out. I misplaced it. Since then when I search for it on the WNYT recipe pages I get a photo of her cooking but it says video removed. I guess they had second thoughts about getting the recipe out there to the public.
Very cool! Our sauce is only simmered 20 minutes so I’m not surprised that refrigerator conditioning of the ingredients would have the same effect. Was the person on the show Maria Pappa, the woman who always wears a scarf like a headband? She’s great. And so are the Perreca’s tomato pies but ours is just as good.
Yes, it was Maria Pappa with the headband. I know I printed the dang recipe and have it somewhere. I like that sauce so much I figured I would use it on other things too. I’ll definitely be trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing it. it still amuses me that all traces of Perreca’s recipe have vanished. There are even links to it on Pinterest that go to nowhere. Top secret stuff now. But not then.
You could follow our recipe but put the sauce in the fridge after mixing rather than heating. Please report back if you try this.
I just tried a different recipe today BEFORE i found this recipe. I think your recipe will result in a more favorable outcome. Growing up in Utica we had tomato pie at every wedding, funeral, birthday party, easter, christmas, new years, christening, communion, announcement of any kind, and yes sometimes got a slice at the local market sold on the counter near the cash register. I am yrying your recipe next.
Please do, Sam! Also, I found the recipe from Maria Papa at Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady which a reader mentions below. She ages the sauce overnight in the refrigerator rather than cooking for 20 minutes which is probably a fine option. You can see the recipe, in a comment from reader Eddie Arthur, on this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Perrecas/posts/here-we-are-on-wnyt-tvs-lets-eat-kitchen-sharing-the-recipe-for-our-traditional-/10152540829641387/