I fell in love with this recipe immediately when I saw it in one of last summer’s Food Network Magazines. I made it for a family get-together last summer. It was such a big hit, I kept it in the repertoire and decided to bring it back for Supper Club dinner recently.
Crust ingredients
It’s important before you begin ANYTHING else, to cut up all of your tomatoes, lay them out, and salt them generously on each side. Allow them to drain for a lengthy amount of time. I let them drain for more than an hour while I made everything else.
Salted Tomatoes
I prepared to make the cornmeal crust. It’s so simple to make – it all comes together quickly in the food processor! Then you just have to roll it out. The directions say to let it chill in the fridge for a while, but I usually skip that step. I guess it depends on how quickly you move and how “workable” the dough is.
Food processor crust
Ready to bake
You have to pre-bake this crust with pie weights so that the crust doesnt bubble up. You can either buy pie weights in the store or you can do what I did and buy a bag of dried beans in the supermarket 🙂 You can re-use the beans for all of your pie endeavors!
Pie weights while baking
Crust is ready
Now to make the filling…..
Filling ingredients
How are those tomatoes doing?? Flipped them over and salted the other side. I got 2 heirlooms from my favorite farm down the road, Skippack Creek Farm. The rest came from my garden!
Salted Tomatoes
The filling comes together so easily. Sautee, the onions, chop up the herbs, and combine everything with the cheese.
Filling mixture
Filling laid in the pie
The fun part is arranging the tomatoes on top of the filling! I like to make a pattern and distribute the colors as evenly as possible. DORK!!!
Tomato Design
Closeup
I know that the recipe says to bake the pie as-is with the tomatoes on top, but I can never resist sprinkling some manchego cheese on top halfway through baking. Come on, everyone knows – the more cheese, the merrier!
With this crust, I have noticed that you definitely need to check it halfway through baking. It gets very brown, and to prevent from burning, you have to line the crust edges with tin foil. It’s a pain in the neck to wrap little pieces of foil around the crust, but it’s imperative in order not to burn your crust.
Look at how beautiful this is!!!!!!!!
Gorgeous
Here you can see what the inside looks like.
Inside of pie
This pie is a real treat. It’s definitely a little bit of work, but it’s a special side dish to bring to a summer/early fall dinner. It will be the highlight of ANY meal, trust me!
Heirloom Tomato Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¾ cup plus 3 tblsp shredded manchego cheese
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 2 ¼ pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup mayo
- 3 tblsp breadcrumbs
- 3 tblsp chopped fresh chives
- 3 tblsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Directions:
Make the crust:
Pulse the flour, cornmeal, and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and 3 tblsp manchego cheese. Pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-size bits of butter. Drizzle in 4 tblsp ice water and pulse until the dough comes together. Add 1 more tblsp ice water if necessary. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm – about 15 to 30 minutes.
Put the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll into a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9.5” deep-dish-style pie plate. Fold the overhang under itself and crimp the edges. Pierce the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat overn to 350.
Line the crust with foil, then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and the beans/weights and continue baking until golden all over, 10-15 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Make the filling:
Heat 1 tblsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, thinly slice tomatoes, toss with 1 tsp kosher salt in a colander. Let drain, gently tossing occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 375. Combine the remaining ¾ cup manchego, mozzarella, mayo, breadcrumbs, 2 tblsp each of chives and parsley and thyme, ¼ tsp each of kosher salt and pepper, and the sautéed onion in a bowl. Spread in the crust. Arrange the tomatoes on top. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tblsp olive oil and season with pepper.
Bake until the tomatoes are browned, about 50 minutes. Top with remaining herbs.
Tags: Heirloom Tomato, Tomato, Tomato Pie
A Sliver Of Each 