Have you heard of tomato pie? It’s a savory, mouth-watering seasonal treat and a delicious way to use up your tomato surplus.
This year, we had to wait a long time for tomatoes as the weather was unusually wet and cool this spring. It took them a little longer to get into the swing of things.
farm fresh tomatoes for dinner!
Here in Pennsylvania, there seem to be two kinds of tomato pie. One type is like a Sicilian pizza without cheese and is delicious, and the other kind is the southern style. As my husband is a Texan, he prefers the Southern style pie. Both are delicious and easy to make.
Let’s start with the pie dough. It’s a savory pie crust, so I went ahead with a simple shortening crust.
I used to make this in the food processor, but after watching the Great British Baking Show, I’ve learned the benefits of doing this by hand. It is much flakier. (If you haven’t looked at the show, the episodes are on YouTube, and you will be happy you did)!
Here are the steps to the pie dough:
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- Simple and economical, this pie crust takes just four ingredients
Just a few notes:
I use ice water as my water option. Only add as much water to make your dough come together as a ball. The dough should not be soggy.
I roll out between sheets of well-floured sheets of waxed paper. Then I wrap the dough (and wax paper) around my pin to transfer it to the pie plate. Peel off one layer of paper, place the naked layer onto the pie plate and then peel off the other side. I use the dinner plate to help me neatly trim the excess dough. I blind bake my pie crust for the tomato pie with beans.
Now the pie:
First blind bake your pie. The hyperlink has are the most detailed instructions.
Southern Tomato Pie
This is a southern style tomato pie that my husband loves. He hails from Jacksonville, TX, home of the "tomato bowl." This recipe is a good way to use a surplus of fresh tomatoes
- Prep Time: 30h
- Cook Time: 20h
- Total Time: 50m
- Serves: 6
- Yield: 1 pie
- Category: Main dishes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup diced onion (you can use scallions, red or white onions-your choice)
- 10 basil leaves (fresh) diced or more to taste
- 1 pre-baked pie shell
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
- 1 cup grated cheddar
- 1 mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain for 20 minutes. Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise together. Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. You can substitute cheese if you wish...try adding fontina, gruyere, jarlsberg To serve, cut into slices and serve warm.
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- chop your ingedients
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- layer them in a pre-baked pie shell
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- add topping & bake
After you chop your ingredients, let the tomatoes drain for about 20 minutes in a colander. If you want, you can de-seed them.
Then simply layer the ingredients in the pie.
Start with tomatoes, basil, onion, salt and pepper followed by more of the same until the pie is 3/4 full. Top it off with the cheese mixture. This recipe has many variations. I’ve added bacon if I have it on hand. I think I might experiment with different cheeses; such as jarlsburg, fontina or gruyere.
After my time stationed in the Carolinas, I’m partial to Duke’s mayonnaise. However any type will suffice (as long as it is not fat free or light).
The decision is yours. Enjoy the last fruits of summer!
Facebook Comments
This looks super delicious. I will save this recipe to try it!
Thank you very much!
This sounds wonderful! I love tomatoes!
The tomato pie looks delicious. We were wondering if you drain the tomatoes? Otherwise where does the juice go? We don’t want any soggy bottoms, as they say on the Great British Baking Show. We love that show too. Did you watch the American Christmas version of it? That was very enjoyable too…it was still filmed in England with the same judges, but the hosts and contestants were from the USA. We like the show especially as there is not all the swearing and meaness as seen on so many of the cooking shows. They are all so polite to… Read more »
You are correct, you can drain the tomatoes but it still makes it a bit soggy. You could also de-seed them but the best remedy is to eat it all at once! I haven’t seen the Christmas special but I will look for it. It is a great show especially as they are so kind and supportive to each other
Just an update…I did make the pie and it was delicious. I did drain the tomatoes by halving them on their equator and then letting the seeds, juice drain out. I added chopped red peppers along with the green onion. I had 4 eggwhites left from a previous recipe so I used those and then just enough mayonnaise to bring it up to the 1 cup volume. Turned out fine, fluffy, resembled your picture so I believe the substitution worked. We also did eat it all up in one sitting…the 3 of us and our 2 tenants we invited to… Read more »