Tricia Butler demonstrates how to make this old family, Southern recipe: Tomato Pie
Great to make towards the end of summer, with fresh beans and tomatoes from the garden.
Tomato-Pie-Recipe (PDF)
Best Overall Pie!
Ingredients:
- 4 – 5 large tomatoes, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 10-inch pie crust
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cups medium cheddar cheese, shredded
- ½ cup mayonnaise (or substitute with ½ cup sour cream)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1½ large sweet onions, sliced in 1/4 inch rings (Vidalia or Walla Walla sweets work best)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon spice mix (Italian herbs or other favorite seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350º degrees.
- Melt butter in a sauté pan and add onions. Cook at medium low for about 30 minutes until caramelized, stirring every few minutes to avoid burning.
- Lightly salt tomatoes and drain in colander for 20 minutes.
- Pre-bake pie shell for 10 minutes in 350º degree oven with pie weights to avoid bubbles.
- Mix cheddar with mayonnaise and 1/4 Teaspoon of the cracked pepper and set aside.
- Add one layer of tomatoes to pie shell and cover with dash of salt, pepper, sugar and basil. Add the rest of the tomato slices and seasonings in layers.
- Spread cheese mixture evenly on top of tomatoes.
- Sprinkle spice mix on top of cheese.
- Add caramelized onions to the top of the pie in an even layer.
- Bake pie at 350º degrees for 30 minutes. Cover with foil if the crust begins to burn.
Yield: Makes 6-8 servings.
Recipe courtesy of Tricia Butler, Sassafras Catering
12 Comments
Uh, from the south or not, Frank is obviously wrong if he thinks that his family's recipe is *the only* legitimate way to make a traditional southern tomato pie. Now, I'm just a dumb Yankee, but I would bet that there were as many variations on southern tomato pie as there were grandmothers down there. And every single one of them was “authentic.”
Plus, as Tricia said, you should really add the things you like to “make it your own.” All i care about is that it's tasty
That said, I did try this last night, and it was a soupy mess, even after lots of extra baking, because i didn't drain the tomatoes enough. I would HIGHLY recommend seeding them, draining them, and then even letting them sit on clean dishtowels for a while to soak up some of the liquid that would otherwise waterlog your crust.
This is probably kind of a common sense thing, which of course, I had to learn the hard way. Kind of like, when using beans to weigh down your pie crust, as Tricia mentions, it's common sense not to include split peas (hey- it was a mix), and to put some parchment paper or something UNDER the beans, so they don't become embedded in the crust. Haha. There's another tip. Don't do that.
Great recipe, Tricia! Thanks!
Thanks for your feedback, Mr. Miles. Now you have me interested in the recipe that your family used!
I made a BBQ DVD awhile back, and boy, there are so many different approaches to great authentic low and slow BBQ, typically associated with the South. In this case, this was Tricia’s family’s recipe (being from North Carolina) and they consider it part of their tradition.
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