A few weeks ago my mom and sister stayed the night and brought a recipe for a savory tomato pie recipe from Southern Living magazine. I was so excited to try it, since it made uses of the delicious seasonal tomatoes popping in my garden, and combined a buttermilk pie crust with a rich cheese filling. It came out amazing and it was so decadent and delicious, but the recipe took almost FOUR hours to make. Between prepping the dough, roasting the tomatoes, pre-baking the crust, and layering in resting times between each step, I had spent nearly the entire afternoon getting this darn tasty pie to the table. We sat around our patio table and discussed all of the things we loved about it, and I set out on a mission to make my own version that would down the prep time significantly! This version is my take on the southern classic and a perfect use for those sweet summer tomatoes; recipe below:
- 2 Frozen Pie Crust Dough, thawed
- Heirloom Tomatoes, about 4 large plus 1 pint of small tomatoes
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper
- ¼ Cup of Basil Pesto
- 1 egg
- ½ Cup of Mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard
- 1 ½ Cups of Sharp Cheddar, shredded
- ¼ Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
- ¼ Cup of Fresh Chive, minced and divided
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice large heirloom tomatoes to ¼” thickness, and halve or quarter the smaller tomatoes; arrange all of the tomatoes on the parchment lined baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper. Place tomatoes in the oven for 20 minutes to roast; remove when finished and set aside to cool slightly.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, prepare the crust and filling. Roll out two circles of the thawed pie crust dough and layer them on top of one another; use a rolling pin to press them together and create one thick crust to be placed in a deep pie dish. Spread the basil pesto inside the bottom of the crust-lined pie dish and set aside.
- To make the filling, stir together egg, mayonnaise, dijon, shredded cheddar, grated parmesan, shallot and garlic. Fold in half of the chives and stir until combined.
- Add tomatoes and filling in alternate layers, starting with about ⅓ of the tomatoes, adding half of the filling, another ⅓ of the tomatoes, the remaining half of the filling, and the final ⅓ of the tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped fresh chives and sprinkle the crust with sea salt.
- Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 45 minutes; remove from oven and set aside to rest for 20 minutes before serving.
I am excited to try this pie, the shorter version, however I am thinking more about the biscuit shell. Will post a review when I make the pie this week.