Southern Sweet Tomato Pie.

There's nothing better than just-picked, sun-kissed, right-out-of-the-garden tomatoes. 

I've been making tomato sandwiches sprinkled with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, with Hellmann's mayonnaise on white bread.  I've made tomato salads with red onion, cucumber, and a vinaigrette.  I'm open to any and all tomato recipes.

Today, Mr. Hawthorne suggested a sweet tomato pie.  He remembered one that was always brought to his annual family reunions. I'm trying to recreate his description of that pie.  Just scaling down for the two of us.

Southern Sweet Tomato Pie
Pie crust large enough to fit a 4 x 7-inch oval baking dish
3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 onion sliced
1 TB mayonnaise
1 TB buttermilk
sugar
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
chiffonade of basil
Provolone cheese
Panko breadcrumbs

Heat oven to 425°.
Place foil over pie dough, pour in weights, and bake about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
Peel and slice the tomatoes, place in single layer on paper towels, sprinkle a little kosher salt over top.
After ten minutes, blot tomatoes with paper towels.
Layer tomatoes and onion on pie crust.  On each layer, sprinkle kosher salt, pepper, and a couple pinches of sugar.
Mix mayonnaise and buttermilk and pour evenly over top.
Top with a chiffonade of basil, Provolone cheese, and Panko breadcrumbs.
Bake until topping is lightly browned - about 15 minutes.

Mr. Hawthorne doesn't want butter, cheese, or breadcrumbs on his half.
I never turn down butter, cheese, or breadcrumbs.

Rosie Makes Tomato Pie.

 There's nothing quite like a just-picked tomato,

still warm from the sun.

I'm lucky enough to have a bumper crop this year,

so I've been coming up with all sorts of recipes.

Mr. Hawthorne canned his Salsa Ranchera yesterday

and today I'm making one of his favorites.

It's a sweet tomato pie.

Rosie’s Sweet Southern Tomato Pie

1 pie crust (Preferably your favorite homemade pie dough recipe, but the refrigerated, rolled-up ones will do in a pinch. Never use the frozen in tin pans.

About 2 ½ pounds tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (6-8 medium tomatoes)

1 tsp kosher salt

1 large sweet onion, chopped

½ cup chopped mixed fresh herbs – I used basil, parsley, chives, and thyme.

Freshly cracked black pepper for each layer

½ tsp sugar for each layer

Pats of unsalted butter

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 TB buttermilk

½ cup grated Gruyère cheese

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup Brie cheese, in small pieces

¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs

10 Ritz crackers, crumbled

More pats of unsalted butter

Heat oven to 425°.  Press dough into a 9-inch pie pan.  Chill 30 minutes.  Line pie crust with foil and fill with dried beans to keep the crust from bubbling up as it cooks.  Bake at 425° for 20 minutes.  Remove beans and foil.  Shield edges with foil to keep from burning.   Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until bottom crust is browned.  Remove from oven and cool.  Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Peel and thinly slice tomatoes.  Place slices in a single layer on paper towels and evenly sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt.  Let stand ten minutes, then pat dry with paper towel.

Layer tomatoes, chopped onion, and herbs in prepared crust, seasoning each layer with salt, freshly ground pepper, and ½ tsp sugar.

Top with a few thin pats of butter.  Sprinkle cheeses over top.  Stir buttermilk into mayonnaise and spread onto top of tomato pie. Sprinkle Panko and Ritz over top. Dot with additional pats of butter. Bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.

 Peel and slice tomatoes.

Lay slices in a single layer on paper towels

and evenly salt the slices.

 

 Mince herbs. 

Your choice.

I used parsley, basil, chives, and thyme.

 Start layering.

Tomatoes, onions, herbs, salt, pepper, and sugar on each layer.

 Keep layering until you use everything up.

Dot top with butter.

 Add cheeses and spread mayonnaise and buttermilk mixture over top.

 Top with panko, crumbled Ritz, and thin pats of butter.

 Bake until nicely browned.

 

   

   

Rosie Uses Her Heirloom 'Maters And Makes 'Mater Pie.

Every summer, I try new recipes
 to use all those tomatoes in the garden.
Today I'm cooking tomato and corn pie in a double pie crust,
recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients for my crust:
2 cups flour
 1 TB baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
 3/4 stick butter
3/4 cup milk

Mix togther the flour, baking powder, and salt,
then blend in the cold butter a tablespoon or so at a time
 until the mixture looks like coarse meal.

Stir in milk until it just forms a dough and form into a ball.

Divide dough in half and roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness
 on a well-floured board or counter.
Wrap around the rolling pin to lift and place in the pie plate

And, no, I'm not good at fluting edges.

I put both pie doughs in the fridge while I worked on the fixin's.

I do not like skins on my tomatoes
 and the easiest way of peeling them
 is to drop them in boiling water for about 10 seconds.
 The skin splits right off.

I used 6 large tomatoes.

The rest of the filling:
 1/3 cup mayo
juice of 1 lemon
2 TB chopped basil
 2 TB chopped chives
1 can corn
 freshly ground salt and pepper
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese

Mix lemon juice with mayo.

Peel the tomatoes.

Seed and juice the tomatoes.
 Just stick your fingers in the little gel pockets and squeeze.

I put the chopped tomatoes in a colander,
 salted them, and let them drain for about 20 minutes.

Get the other pie dough out and roll it.

Look how much juice drains out from the tomatoes.

Enough to make for one very soggy crust.

I put a layer of tomatoes on the bottom and sprinkled pepper over top.

Then I added 1/2 the can of corn, 1/2 the basil, and 1/2 the chives.

And 1/2 the cheese.

And repeated with the rest.

Roll up the dough on the pin ...

... and carefully place over top of the tomato pie.

Flute the edges together.
 I admit, I am not a good fluter.

I brushed the top with melted butter
 and then stopped and saw the mixture of mayonnaise and lemon
sitting on the counter that should have been poured
 over the pie before putting the top crust on.

Not to worry.
 Rosie can fix this.

I made an incision in the crust.

I poured the mayo/lemon mixture over top.

Smoothed it out.

Carefully replaced the flap.

And stitched it back together with rosemary.
 I am nothing if not resourceful.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes
 or until the filling is bubbling and crust is golden.

This pie crust is excellent.
 I had to have some of it right away with buttah.

If you like a tomato and mayo sandwich
 (always on white bread, sorry Ticky),
 then you'll love this.
 Even if you don't like a tomato and mayo sandwich,
you'll still love this.
(And remember, I have a basic problem with mayonnaise.)

I know. I know.
My plating is lacking here.
 This was served with some grilled flat iron steak
 and a rice/bean/pepper/cilantro/avocado concoction.

Excellent meal.
Remember to go here
if you want to see what it's supposed to look like.