Recipe: Southern Tomato Pie
Tomatoes are wonderful on their own, but a little (okay, a lot) of cheese and mayo never hurt anything in the South.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place pie crust into pie pan, crimping edges with your fingers or a fork. Poke holes in a few places in the bottom of the crust to vent.
3. Pre-bake crust for around 8–10 minutes, or until light golden (will bake more later).
4. Slice tomatoes to 1/4–1/2 inch thickness and lay out on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Lightly salt them, cover with another layer of paper towels, and let them sit around 10 minutes.
5. Mix your mayo, Dijon mustard, shredded cheeses, garlic, and seasonings together in a bowl.
6. Spread a layer of the cheese mixture along the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust.
7. Top with a layer of tomatoes, and some pieces of torn basil.
8. Top that with more cheese mixture.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8.
10. Place your last remaining tomato slices and basil on top (I try to save the “pretty” slices for this).
11. Sprinkle with parmesan or other Italian cheese.
12. Sprinkle with seasoning.
13. Bake for 30–40 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is deep golden brown.
Note: Caramelized onions and bacon are stellar additions to this, if you want to layer them in, too.
[Read about the controversies of Creole tomatoes in the South, here.]