#cookng

If you live in a similar kind of climate to me (northeastern US), then right now (August) is a fantastic time to make a tomato pie. Here's the one I made for tonight's dinner, with the filling all set up and ready for the top "crust":

The filling is tomatoes (I used a mix of red and yellow), scallions, fresh basil (mixed green and purple) and this time I added a bit of sweet corn. All of this is placed in a premade pie shell. (Feel free to use a homemade one, but the frozen crust is what makes it easy.)

Here it is with the top "crust":

The top "crust" is just shredded cheese mixed with mayonnaise to bind it together.

Here it is all done:

Instructions:

You only want to make this if you have access to really good tomatoes--homegrown or locally-grown ones, that smell nice and tomatoey and have a deep color when you cut into them. I used two big ones, each about the size of a baby's head--you want around three cups, after chopping and draining.

A while before you want to bake your pie, chop up your tomatoes and put them in a colander. (Make sure you have a bowl under the colander.) Sprinkle with salt and give them a stir, then let them sit. Stir every now and then. (You my also want to pour the liquid out of the bowl while you're at it, depending on how your colander sits in your bowl.)

I'd say let them sit at least an hour; more is fine too. You want to get as much excess liquid out as you can; otherwise your pie will be too wet.

Meanwhile, slice up your scallions--I used two, but you can adjust according to how much you like scallions. (Regular onion will also work, if you don't have scallions--just chop it up small.)

If your tomato supplier has fresh basil, it's worth it to get a big handful of that. Wash and dry it, then pick the leaves off the stems. Stack the big leaves and cut them into ribbons with (clean!) scissors. (The fresh basil is really nice in this, but dried will work. You could even go with an Italian seasoning mix, if that's what you have--the tomatoes are the star of the show here; they're the only thing you need to be picky about.)

Sweet corn is optional--today was the first time I've tried it in this dish--but it's good! I used 1 largish ear of corn; just shuck it and cut the kernels off with a knife. (If you have leftover corn-on-the-cob that's already cooked, that would probably be fine, too.)

Once the tomatoes have drained, mix in the corn kernels if you're using them. (I stirred mine in right there in the colander.)

Put the tomatoes (and corn, if you're using it) into the pie crust. I used a store-brand frozen one, the kind that comes in its own foil pan, which makes cleanup very easy.

Sprinkle the scallions (or onions) and basil on top. Shake on a little black pepper, too, if you want.

Now for the top crust! You want about two cups of shredded cheese (the pre-shredded in the bag is fine for this recipe) and 3/4 of a cup of mayonnaise. The cookbook I went off of says 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup mozzarella, and 2 tablespoons of parmesan--but you don't have to stick to that; adjust it to what cheeses you like/have on hand. This time I just used a bag of Aldi brand "Italian Blend," which is mozzarella, parmesan, and Provelone.

Just stir together the cheese and mayo in a bowl until the consistency is even, then spread it on top of your pie filling.

- Bathe berries in vinegar and water to prevent mold, remove pesticides

- wrap celery in tin foil to keep fresh longer

- old milk that has started to curdle can be made into cheese

- Sbarro’s recipts get you a free pizza slice with a code, which gets you a new reciept which gets you a code for a free slice, which gets you a new receipt which gets you a code for a free slice, which gets you a receipt which gets you a code for a free slice, etc.

- 1 shot glass of rice and 3 shot glasses of water for the perfect ratio

- myfridgefood.com

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