Tomato Cheese Pie

Seriously, what is better than a tomato plant right outside the back door, loaded with fresh ripe tomatoes?  Browsing through Tastespotting led me to a recipe for tomato and cheese pie.  Normally I would direct you to the blog it was on, but in my excitement over how awesome this pie sounded, I printed the recipe and forgot to bookmark the blog.  I changed a few things from the original recipe based on comments, and I'm happy to report that this pie is one of the most delicious things I've eaten all summer.

Here's the recipe:

Tomato Cheese Pie        Serves 8.

• 1 9-inch pie shell (I used a thawed-out frozen pie crust)

• 1/2 yellow or red onion, chopped (I used 2 little red onions from the garden, and   caramelized them)

• 3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes

• 1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 leaves)

• 1 T Dijon mustard

• 2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozarella)  (I used sharp cheddar and provolone; I don't think it really matters what you use as long as you like it)

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (I used olive-oil-added mayo)

• 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper (I didn't use salt-there's plenty in the cheese)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prebake the pie crust until it's a light golden brown; mine took about 12 minutes

Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes (I put paper towels in a colander and let the tomatoes sit for a while, then squeezed them with the paper towel)

Spread the Dijon mustard on the bottom of the pie shell

Sprinkle pie shell with chopped onion.

Spread the chopped tomatoes over the onions.

Sprinkle the sliced basil over the tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. (Mine baked for 50 minutes and wasn't browned enough so I put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes)

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A piece of tomato cheese pie, and some fresh cantaloupe from the garden, were dinner. 

I logged my dinner on NutriMirror and was happy to see that my day was still green!  Here are the stats; look at all that calcium!  (I know, look at all that FAT!)