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.
