January 23, 2022
A couple of days ago, one of our team members, Chuck, asked me if I was taking suggestions for blog posts, to which I happily replied that I was. He told me that he wanted to know the history behind our tomato pie and what the process was like from start to finish. I thought it was a fantastic idea, and so here is the history of my family’s famous tomato pie.
The tomato pie originally began when my dad, Pasquale Carlino, was a little boy. My grandmom, Mama Carlino, would make homemade bread once a week, and the loaves would last them all week. The day that Mama made the loaves, she always ended up having extra dough leftover, and growing up Italian with little money, nothing ever went to waste.
My grandmom would take the leftover dough, stretch it out, then go to the garden to pick fresh tomatoes and herbs. She’d throw that mixture on top of the dough with fresh olive oil, and that is what became one of our Carlino staples.
Though they originally opened the store in 1983, the tomato pie did not become one of our classics until a couple of years later. My grandmom didn’t think that people would like it, let alone buy it, but my dad was unrelenting. He wanted her to make a tomato pie just like the old days, and he said they could add toppings afterward if they found it popular.
Then, my family and one of my uncles tried to recreate the same tomato pie that my dad enjoyed as a little boy back in Italy. The recipe created initially and afterward was my grandmother’s and will always be my family’s secret.
Once they started making the tomato pie, they began selling it by the pound, like we still do today, because it was hard to cut each piece the same size, and it’s still that way. Though, people grew to love it as much as my dad did. They began to buy the pies in halves and wholes rather than by the slice.
In the beginning, people could only order halves and wholes ahead of time or buy them by the slice in-store because they would make them to order. Making the dough was and still is a tedious process, and the demand was so high that they could only take so many orders.
The process for the tomato pie is simple, in explanation.
- You make the dough which takes roughly two days to allow it to rise naturally.
- Once it has risen, you put it into a pan, stretch it out, and knead it
- You then let it rise a little bit, then knead it again. The trick, though, is to not over-knead or over-work the dough.
- Once you’ve gotten the dough properly into the pan, you put your tomato mixture (ours will die with us ;)) on the raw dough, and put it into the oven.
- After some prodding and poking, the tomato pie is done after roughly 15-20 minutes of baking.
- Once it cools down, cut the tomato pie in your desired slice sizes, drizzle with olive oil, add some fresh basil, and enjoy!
Today, the tomato pie is just as successful, if not more, because it is delicious while also being vegan and dairy-free. During the pandemic, because people were not entertaining, my sister Angela came up with an idea to make the tomato pies in family-size pans. We had a local guy specially make smaller pans to bake the pies in so that they resembled the larger tomato pies, just in a smaller pan. It is perfect for a small family or time stuck in quarantine when you crave a good slice or two of pizza.
We also have started to stencil the tomato pies with grated parmesan cheese for holidays and special events to make them extra special and a family favorite. Tomato pie is one of our most significant accomplishments, and its beginning was one of pure enjoyment and childhood love in a small town in Italy. Now it is a well-known classic in our markets in Ardmore and West Chester, PA.
On your next trip to our markets, enjoy a slice of tomato pie and feel as if you have been transported to the sunny hills of Abruzzo.
Your friend,
Nadia Carlino
Eagles Pie 
Game of Thrones Pie 
Mama Carlino
