Tomato Takeover Part 2: Tomato Pie

Welcome to the prime time edition of Tomato Takeover Part 2.

I'm Katie Couric and I'll be your hostess

as we navigate through this second recipe in a three part series

of tomato-licious recipes.

So....tomato pie, eh? Doesn't sound like anything I would eat.

But I was desperate to use tomatoes! Don't look at me like that!

If tomatoes were dominating your kitchen like they were mine,

you'd have taken a chance on any tomato recipe too!

Now, I am here to tell you that this pie is delicious!! It's not a "last resort" recipe. It's a Oh-I-Hope-We-Have-Enough-Tomatoes-to-Make-Tomato-Pie recipe.

So take a chance on this one and put some tomatoes in a pie shell.

Crust comes first.

(I have to warn you: I'm no good at pie crust, or anything that takes rolling out. You'll see as we go along. I'm a complete embarrassment). Wait til you see what I did to a calzone crust in an upcoming post. You will point at me, laugh at me, and then delete me from your followers list in disgust). (Calzone recipe is coming soon Sara!)

This is a wonderful recipe for a savory pastry crust (I just butcher it, is all).

1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp baking powder all cozy in a bowl.

Not knowing their maker is about to make a mockery of them.

Whisk together.

Add 1/2 cup cold butter cut into 16 pieces.

Cut using a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. You'll notice here that mine resembles large chunks of carrots. I'm a lazy pastry cutter. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture and stir to form a ball. (That's one of the reasons I like this recipe. You've seen those recipes for pie crust where you have to add one tablespoon of water at a time, fluff it with a fork over in one corner of the bowl, then add the next tablespoon of water. SHEESH! I can't stand high maintenance dough. I'm an impatient fluffer).

You can add a little bit more water a teaspoonful at a time if the dough is too dry and won't form a ball. Knead several times. (Dough can be wrapped up and put in the fridge all tidy if you don't want to bake it until later).

Now here's where things really start to deteriorate.

I'm not going to lie to you.

It's a small insult to my ego to show you this next picture.

You're supposed to roll the dough into an 11 inch circle.

Did I fail geometry? Am I making a relief map instead?

It's seriously the best I could do.

And it only gets worse from here people.

Due to the ghastly nature of this pie crust,

the following image may not be suitable for children.

Or adults.

Oh geez! I'm cringing and giggling. See my patches?

And you're supposed to flute.

FLUTE!!

I don't flute.

I don't play the flute, I don't own champagne flutes and I don't flute pie crust.

No fluting ever occurs in my house. I'm an incompetent fluter.

A fluting failure.

But I do prick. Prick madly! Prick with abandon!

Prick the sides and the bottom. Then line it with foil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Then remove the foil and bake for 3-5 minutes more.

This crust turns out fantastic.

Despite my blunders, it's fantastic.

Now on to the filling.

4 tomatoes. Slice one tomato into 6 slices and set aside.

Halve the remaining tomatoes, remove seeds,

and cut each half into approximately 6 wedges.

You see that knife? It's from my mother-in-law and I'm enamored with it.

I've never come across anything that cuts through tomatoes better.

See how I started with that silly old knife in the background?

Yeah, that sucker quickly got tossed aside when I brought out this bad boy.

1 cup chopped white onion. Oops.

Well, some of it's white.

Also needed is 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil. As mentioned previously, I'm not a huge fan of chopping fresh herbs. So I have my manservant do it. He's a very handsome manservant. See, marriage is all about picking up each other's slack. Putting forth a little effort for each other each day. Let me explain: I don't like taking out the garbage, scrubbing showers, cleaning the litter box, trimming shrubbery, filing taxes, dusting, giving the kids baths, taking the dog to the vet, making important phone calls or chopping fresh herbs. So he does all that.

He doesn't like blogging. So I do that.

It's important to give fifty-fifty.

In a bowl, mix 1 cup grated cheddar...

...1/2 cup grated Parmesan... ...and 1/2 cup mayonnaise. Oh, again with the mayo???

I know. It's all globby. Globular.

It'll make my backside globular, that's for sure.

There's nothing I can do about it though.

You're gonna love this pie, I promise.

And then you'll forget all about this globular nonsense. Mix it all up, Sweets!

She's a good little stirrer.

The pie crust is done baking. Look at the poor chap.

He's all bewildered, living out his daymare

of being the ugliest bit of pastry to ever exist.

He longs for fluted edges.

First, fill the pie crust with half of the sliced, seeded tomatoes. Then add half the chopped onion...

...and 1 tablespoon of the manservant-chopped basil. Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Spread on half the cheese mixture.

Repeat one more time with the remaining tomatoes,

onion, basil, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

and remaining half of cheese mixture.

Arrange reserved tomato slices on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown.

OH LOOK! Doesn't it look good?? IT IS!!

This is what it looks like after some people with little regard for

the potential for globular backsides get their hands on it.