When life gives you a box of tomatoes, you need to think bigger than a tomato sandwich.
Last weekend, our stepson, Kevin, and his wife, Suzanne, and their 5 kids came to visit. (Yay for grandkids time !!!!). It was Emma's birthday (she turned 8) and she wanted to spend it with us at the Lake. With them came a juicy cantaloupe and a box of tomatoes from Kevin's mom's garden. If you're keeping up here, that's my husband's first wife, who I like very much.
I don't care how fresh tomatoes are at the market, there's nothing better than tomatoes fresh from the vine, still warm from the sun. Those of you who grow your own know this.
I gave some thought to making jam or roasting them all up to add to dishes. But I wanted to try something new. A tomato pie. We were having friends over for dinner, and decided to use them as my guinea pigs so Carnivorous Maximus and I wouldn't eat the entire pie ourselves. And thank God, because it was so good that's exactly what would have happened.
Cook's Tips:
This pie is all about tomatoes, so use your best ones.
Confession: the photo is a little incomplete. I needed to get a photo of the dish earlier in the day when the light is best. I then added another layer of tomatoes and slid it back in the oven.
If you don't care for mayonnaise, try it with pesto!
Tomato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 store bought pie shell or make your own
- ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 8 to matoes or enough to make 3 layers of tomatoes in the pie
- 3 tablespoon Gruyere Swiss cheese
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Thaw the pie shell if it's frozen.
- Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese on the bottom of the pie shell. Slice the tomatoes ¼" thick. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese. Spread them with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Add a layer of Gruyere, a sprinkling of dried oregano, salt and pepper, a second layer of tomatoes. Spread with the final tablespoon of mayonnaise, a dusting of oregano, salt and pepper, and half of the remaining mozzarella cheese. Top with the final layer of tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper, and the remaining mozzarella.
- Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned, the cheeses are melted, and the tomatoes are soft.
- Serve warm.
Rita Held
Clever idea. How's it go over with the kids?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I’m going to make it next time they’re here if they’re back up this summer. They were here last weekend, but I didn’t start experimenting with the pie until after they left 🙁
Tova Buckholder
Is there anything that I could substitute in place of the mayo? It looks really yummy but nobody in my family will eat mayo. 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks for your question, Tova! You can either completely eliminate the mayo, or substitute your favorite basil pesto. Hope you like it! I made it for friends and they loved it!
cheri
Hi Susan, love summer tomatoes they are simply the best, and your tomato pie sounds amazing!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
There's just nothing better than tomatoes fresh from the vine in the garden! Happy summer to you, Cheri!
Kirsten
Susan,
You are right. There is nothing better than the flavor of a summer tomato! I'm just glad my plants keep going until frost so I have time to enjoy tomatoes and turn on the oven too.
Thanks!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
We have our yard all ripped up right now for a project, so there's been no garden this year. I really miss having fresh tomatoes, Kirsten!
Lucy
This looks wonderful! My husband is really picky about cheese, but he love gruyere. This would be such a delicious light summer dinner with a green salad. Definitely want to give it a try!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
There are so many cheese you can use with this, so have some fun with it. And I completely agree - all you need is a big green salad to call this dinner :-). If you eat meat, feel free to add some sausage to the layers!
Rachel
This looks delicious. Tomato "pie" is really popular where I live, but it more of a paste sauce on top of a pizza crust. I really yummy, but this looks even better!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Rachel! This dish is best when tomatoes are at their peak. Don't even think of making this with winter tomatoes. And it's so easy to make - especially if you don't make your own pie crust.
Arman @ thebigmansworld
Sometimes, I find that I prefer tomatoes in Summer over fruit! This looks delicious!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Me too, Arman! I make tomato sandwiches all the time, this time of year.
tanya
Yum! talk about comfort food 🙂
Catherine
This sounds wonderful and looks beautiful! Tomato pie is a summer staple in my book. I would love a slice of this. xo, Catherine
Jules Older
Why Kosher salt? Why do recipes ALWAYS specify Kosher salt?
puzzled in san francisco
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Dear puzzled in san francisco, aka Jules, LOL. Kosher salt is a favorite with chefs due to the shape of the salt and the fact it has fewer additives than the more common table salt. Benefits of the shape: it's easy to pinch small amounts from a small bowl, and teaspoon for teaspoon, it's less salt. By weight, it's all the same. But table salt nestles more tightly together, so that a pinch will be more salt. So, if you're still with me here, there's a lot less risk of adding too much salt. If a recipe developer, like me, uses kosher salt in a recipe, we must mention it in the recipe. Otherwise if someone uses the same amount of salt with table salt, they're going to be very unhappy with the salty result. As a side note, it's also a great shape for salting meats for curing. Hope that helps, Jules!! Great to hear from you!