Tomato Pie

I am blessed with an abundance of tomatoes this year, both on my tomato plant and from our farm box (a surprise every week!).  I don’t can (yet), so I’ve been coming up with new and interesting ways to use all my produce every week.  This recipe is not new, nor is it really one of mine.  My French mom made this just about every other week when I was living in Nantes, and I’ve always adored it.  One pie is almost not enough for my family, now that the boys are getting bigger.  It’s vegetarian, so I usually serve it with a side of Italian meatballs, which the boys eat plain and on which I drizzle this stuff.  Easy peasy!

 

Tomato Pie

 

First, whip up your favorite pie crust or use one of the uncooked pie crusts you can buy at the grocery store, and bake it.  I usually do mine at 450-degrees for 15 minutes, covered in foil and topped with pie weights.

 

Next, slice up and seed several ripe tomatoes and one of those one-pound mozzarella cheese balls (I prefer Frigo).  This recipe doesn’t work as well when you use fresh mozzarella because of all the water, so just go for the regular kind.  Also, step into your backyard and marvel at how well your basil plant is growing outside (and ignore the little voice in your head that says it will surely die this winter), and pick yourself some basil leaves.  The amount of tomatoes and basil you use depends more on how large your pie pan is than anything else.

 

Layer cheese over the pie crust, then tomatoes, then basil.  Drizzle with some olive oil (the regular kind, not the spicy kind linked above) and shake a bit of salt and pepper over the pie, if you like that sort of thing.

 

 

Next, top with more cheese (a phrase that instantly makes any recipe a good recipe in my book).  Pop the whole thing in the oven and bake at 375-degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese is gooey.

 

 

Serve it in slices like a pie.  Drizzle your spicy olive oil on top (if you want, I won’t judge your wussy palette if you don’t like spicy things) and pair with meatballs and a nice Cabernet.

 

 

This would also be great as a side dish to, say, Chicken Parmesan or any other Italian-inspired main dish.

 

Enjoy!