Late Summer Tomato Pie
Anyone that grows vegetables in the Northeast knows that it gets to a point in late August and early September where the tomatoes just don’t stop. They can be hard to keep up with and your practically giving them away to your neighbors and friends. So when my dad gave me a shopping bag full of multiple tomato varieties before i took off for New York last weekend, I knew I would make some tomato pie. Tomato pie is beautiful because you can use any variety, color, or size of tomato and it taste good warm out of the oven and cold the next day! I was inspired by this recipe, and changed it up slightly to work with what I already had.
Late Summer Tomato Pie
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick room temperature unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons shredded manchego cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, different sizes and colors
salt
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Directions:
Combine flour, cornmeal and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and three tablespoons of manchego. Use a pastry blender to combine til mixture is coarse with pea sized pieces of butter. Or, combine ingredients in food blender. Drizzle four tablespoons of ice water and continue to blend or use tool until dough comes together. Put dough on plastic wrap and pat into a disc shape. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Put dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll into a 13 inch round. Transfer into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. (get the pie dish i use and love here!) Crimp edges and pierce bottom of crust multiple times with a fork. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 mins and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line crust with foil, fill with dried beans and cook 20 minutes. Remove beans and continue to cook 15 more minutes. Move to rack to cool.
Make filling: heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Cook til golden about ten minutes then cool. While onions are cooling, thinly slice the tomatoes. Late summer means lots of tomato options, and I chose to do half Roma tomatoes because they have less juice and more flavor. I also used heirloom tomatoes to give a variety of color. Toss sliced tomatoes with a teaspoon of salt and place in colander to drain.
Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Combine remaining 3/4 cup of machego, mozzarella, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, two tablespoons of chives, two tablespoons of basil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper and sauteed onions in a bowl. Spread into pie crust. Arrange the tomatoes on top and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Season with pepper and bake for about 15 minutes. Top with remaining chives and basil and let set about ten minutes. Slice like a pie and serve. Tastes great warm or cold as leftovers!
