I’ve been making this recipe for a while. It’s so easy I honestly forget it even counts as a recipe. It’s a great way to use up a bunch of fruit and odds & ends in your fridge…especially in the summer! What’s better is everyone loves it and it tastes like you slaved the day away…andddddd you definitely didn’t! The hot and cold, sweet and tart, and the soft and crunchy just makes this dessert nearly perfect!

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 cup sugar

A few table spoons lime juice

A pinch of salt

Dashed of cinnamon

1 stick of butter

Any combination of fruit will work: peaches, blueberries, strawberries, apples, cherries, raspberries, think of it as a fruit purge!

Ice cream

OMG – imagining caramel drizzle

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Mix diced/sliced fruit in baking dish with the sugar, lime juice, pinch of salt and dashes of cinnamon.

Pour cake mix over the top and spread out.

Slice butter into pieces and place over the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle more cinnamon over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving over ice cream!

Southern Tomato Pie

One thing I will not give up from when this blog was known as “The Not So Desperate Chef Wife,” is when something is “Chef-approved” aka husband-approved. Nate said this pie was delicious and asked specifically how I made the crust because it was “money!” Haha

Also, I can’t emphasize enough the power of homegrown and home ripened tomatoes! All tomatoes are good, but homegrown is great kind of thing. When you grow your own tomatoes you are able to control exactly what goes into them and the flavor when they’re able to ripen fully is unmatched. I’d be willing to bet those who claim to hate tomatoes haven’t had the magical tomato to convince them.

***For all the mater haters – try growing ‘Sungolds”…they are so sweet and taste like fruit, not a tomato! They are a smaller grape tomato, but it’s like eating candy!

Simple Pie Crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3/8 teaspoon baking powder (I did 1/8 teaspoon baking soda)

7 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup water

Pie Filling:

Tomatoes, thinly sliced

Handful of basil, chiffonade (sliced)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Choose Topping: Pimento cheese or a mayo/cheese mixture…1 1/2 cups shredded cheese + 3/4 cup mayonnaise…Dukes only of course!!

Simple crust instructions:

Mix dry ingredients in a pie dish

Add wet ingredients and mix with a fork

Pad down the dough and up the sides of pie dish

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes – until slightly golden brown and remove

Tomato pie instructions:

Layering the slice tomatoes with salt, pepper, garlic or onion powder, basil in between. I ended up with 3 layers.

Top it with the cheese mixture

Bake for 35 minutes or until the cheese is brown and beautiful.

Let it set out for 10 minutes before serving.

***extra step – I salted the tomato slices earlier so the water would drain out and not end up with a watery pie. If you do this, be careful not to over salt when doing the layers. You probably won’t need to add any salt!