Tomato Pie

Something's got to give when your tomato plants go berserk like mine have. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have such beautiful, delicious tomatoes every day, but seriously...Homey just brought in 16 today. Sixteen! Grand total of 19 on my counter. Let's figure out how to use 'em up, for cryin' out loud!

I know tomato pie sounds weird, but honestly, it's not much different than a tomato sandwich...if you like tomato, cheese, and mayonnaise, you'll like this pie. Unless your name is Homey. This is the second year in a row that she has decided she's not a fan of tomato pie. Which is shocking since her favorite food (since babyhood!) is tomato. But I make it anyway, it doesn't last long around here. Serve it as a side next to a delicious steak or eat it with a green salad for lunch. Eat it while it piping hot, or enjoy it cold the next day. Oooh, serve it hot or cold with fried chicken! That's it. I need some fried chicken....

But first, here's the recipe:
You'll need a pie crust (we'll discuss that later), mayo (Duke's. It has to be Duke's!), 4 or 5 tomatoes, salt/pepper, basil (optional), shredded cheddar.

First of all, peel and slice your tomatoes. Now, technically, you should get rid of the pulp inside the tomato. Your pie won't be soggy and pulp-laden. But to me, that's the best part. And I have no problem with soggy, so I leave all that in there. You may also prefer to dice your tomatoes instead of slicing. However you decided to slice them, let the tomatoes sit in a colander. Sprinkle some salt on them. Salt is a tomatoes best friend:



In the meantime, work on your pie crust. Pie crusts are ticking me off lately. But I am determined to make my own (at least on occasion, for Pete's sake). So this was the second crust from the Pioneer Woman perfect pie crust recipe. It started out fine...roll it out with Homey's rolling pin since I can't find mine. Must be with my keys...

I roll crusts out on parchment because at least I know that I'm not going to be mad that it stuck to the countertop.

Make sure the crust is going to fit in your pie dish.

See...it still looks hopeful!

Turn it over and fit it in the dish:
See, feeling even more hopeful! It's not perfectly pretty, but it's in there!

Prick the bottom with a fork. We need to bake this a little before we tomato it up. So pop it in a 375 oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Then gasp when this is what you pull out....

Wha'?!?! Are you even kidding me?? How could this possibly happen? Ree?! What am I doing to your pie crust to make this happen? (Still waiting on her reply on Facebook!)

Anyway, back to the rest of the recipe. While you are somehow destroying a perfect pie crust, chop up your basil and grate your cheese. Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a fan of grating cheese? Really not a fan...


And this is the point where you can be creative...add onion, more herbs, crumbled bacon, whatever you think sounds good. I just wanted to keep this one simple.



Take the shredded cheese (probably about 2 cups will do). Add in the mayo. I admit, I did not measure. I'm horrible about measuring (except I did for the pie crust, I promise!!). I used two big dollops on my pretty orange spatula. I'd say between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of mayonnaise:




Then we just start layering! Tomatoes, basil (or other ingredients you're adding)...


Layer until you've used all the tomatoes, adding salt and pepper along the way. See how I tried to make the pie crust climb back up the sides? Better than it was, I suppose.

Then....
Add the cheese mayo as the top layer.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese layer is melty and golden.


My goodness...deliciousness. Ugly crust and all!

Make it...and let me know what I'm doing wrong on this crust shenanigan. Other than the fact that I'm not buying Pillsbury :)