Southern Tomato Pie

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!