Review: Corropolese Bakery - Tomato Pie (Norristown PA)

In Trenton NJ, tomato pie is just a synonym for pizza. In the working class suburbs west of Philly, tomato pie is tomato pie, which is essentially a Sicilian pizza (square pie, rectangle slices) without cheese. I like it, whether it comes from Wegman's or from L&B Spumoni Gardens. However, unless you grew up on the stuff, it tastes like, well, pizza without cheese. Why would you do that?

Anyhow, Corropolese Bakery has a good reputation as a purveyor of good (and cheap) tomato pie. It's been on my list to get there. Happily, a colleague visited and brought me a slice.

This won't be a fully fair or fully informed review. Starting with a leftover slice, I then added some grated cheese (cheddar with sun-dried tomato and basil, no less) before I heated it in the oven for about 10 minutes. After it came out, I did the ol' Dom DiMarco and added grated grana padano cheese.

My impressions? It did not look promising. The crust looked like a supermarket, mass-produced basically-white-bread base. Well, looks can be deceiving. It was good. Damn good. So good that I forgot to snap a photo until it was nearly gone.

The first impression was the sauce. Rich, sweet, full, very dense tomato flavor. Reminded me of the rich sauce from Marzano's in Exton PA. Next, the shocker was the crust. Nothing like the "gran ma" square slices in Brooklyn or the doughy crusts of a typical Sicilian pie. It was light and airy, yet crisp with a delicate flavor. More like toast than a crust! Listen, this will never compete with Frank Pepe or Trenton's DeLorenzo's (Hudson St) but it's a treat.

They do offer several varieties, some with cheese. This is a great product and oddly, it seems better suited for breakfast because it seems so light.

It is pizza? Sorta. Destination pizza? Not quite. It earns 7.25 stars. Kudos.