Me Oh My! Tomato Pie!

Summer tomatoes

We wait all winter and all spring for the first summer tomatoes. Why? I will only make tomato pie with locally grown summer tomatoes. You know the ones that are not quite perfect looking but taste amazing. This year I found them early at a local farmer's market and we had tomato pie. The first time I had tomato pie my mother made it and I loved it. That was years ago and over the years I have tweaked it slightly (like you do). Here is my recipe, based on my mom's recipe. I written in some of the different ways I make it. I use light mayonnaise and sour cream but you can use the full fat version if you like.
Tomato Pie

9 Inch (23 cm) Pie Shell- Prebake and Let it Cool
3-4 Tomatoes
10 Basil Leaves, Chopped (Or Cilantro)
One Bunch of Green Onions (90 g) or 1/2 Cup (95 g) Sweet Onions, Chopped
2 Cups (4 oz/113 g) of Shredded Cheese- Cheddar or Combination of Cheddar and Mozzarella
1 Cup (208 g) of Mayonnaise
1 Cup (240 g) of Sour Cream
1/4 Tsp of White Ground Pepper
1/4 Tsp of Red Ground Pepper, Optional

Basil from our garden

Preheat oven to 350F/176C/ Gas Mark 4. Slice tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, and place in a colander.

Salted tomatoes

Allow the tomatoes to drain for 10 minutes. Once the tomatoes have drained (you may want to pat the excess water and salt off of the tomatoes). Layer the tomatoes, basil, and onions in the pie shell.

Two layers of tomatoes

Mix together the cheese through red pepper in a separate bowl and spoon on top of the tomatoes.

The topping is all ready to mix

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

Ready to go in the oven

The top should be starting to brown. Serve warm.

Tomato Pie

The bottom line: Will I make this again. Yes, I will make it all summer. I love this pie. I will change it by changing the cheese I use and the pie crusts. If I have enough time, I make the pie crust from scratch, if not, I get a premade pie crust. It is amazing with heirloom tomatoes. Once the summer tomatoes are gone, so is this pie.