It beats me why this North Carolina sweet-and-savory classic never swept the rest of the country. Maybe it’s because the name sounds too much like dessert. And while it may be distantly related to bread pudding, tomato pudding identifies as a side dish. Perfect for a holiday dinner or barbecue, it dresses up any meal. Nobody has to know it’s embarrassingly easy. A neighbor in Raleigh introduced me to the joy of tomato pudding and gave me her “recipe”: Mix stale bread with a can of stewed tomatoes and bake. I realized later she’d forgotten to mention the butter—the universal secret ingredient. And yet the whole thing tastes far better than its parts. As…
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