Monday, January 9, 2012

My Version of Tomato Pie

Yeoldfurt posted on his blog recently about the Tomato Pie recipe and how much he liked it.  I had never heard of the dish until a girlfriend mentioned it a couple of weeks ago.  When I first described it to Yeoldfurt, he really didn't act too enthused.  His hesitation made me a little apprehensive, but I made it anyway and he loved it.  He raved about while he was eating and told me I should post the recipe.  Then he ate the whole thing before I got a picture of it.  I was going to wait until I made it again so I could post a picture with the recipe, but apparently KX59 emailed him the other day and is anxious.  So I here it is...

I started with the basic recipe at Simply Recipes website and tweaked it for my own purposes.  This is what it looks like when you make it according to the recipe on the website.


Ingredients
  • 1 9-inch pie shell
  • 1/2 yellow or red onion, chopped
  • 3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 leaves)*
  • 2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozarella)
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pie shell in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or longer until lightly golden. If you are starting with a frozen crust, you'll need to cook it a little longer. If you are using a homemade crust, freeze the crust first, then line the crust with aluminum foil and pre-bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes, using either paper towels, a clean dish towel, or a potato ricer. Sprinkle the bottom of the pre-cooked pie shell with chopped onion. Spread the chopped tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the sliced basil over the tomatoes.  In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball. Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.
 
Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. 
 
I'm a tweaker when it comes to recipes.  I've been cooking for several decades and been cooking for Yeoldfurt for over 12 years now.  I know what I like and I know what Yeoldfurt likes, so I'm not afraid to tweak.  When I made this recipe, I used a 6x10-inch pyrex baking dish.  Instead of making a pastry pie shell, I sprayed the pan with olive oil cooking spray and layered the bottom with crushed Ritz crackers, about 1/4-inch deep.  I doubled the onions (one whole onion) and caramelized it in four tablespoons of butter.  I poured the caramelized onions and butter evenly over the crushed crackers.  I sprinkled this layer lightly with Parmesan Cheese.  I spread my three cups of chopped, drained fresh Roma tomatoes over the onions.  Yeoldfurt likes anything hot and spicy so I added a well-drained can of Rotel on top of the fresh tomatoes.  Instead of basil, I used dried crushed red peppers (the kind they serve with pizza) on top of the tomatoes.  I used about four tablespoons.  I followed the crushed red peppers with another light dusting of Parmesan cheese.  For the top layer, I mixed one cup shredded Cheddar with one cup shredded Monterrey Jack plus 3/4 cup generic Miracle Whip.  I finished with about 1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers sprinkled on top of the cheese.  

I'm sure the dish would be good with a pastry pie crust shell on the bottom too.  I was just making it as a side dish and wanted to make it a little lighter.   

16 comments:

  1. Well, I think you created a completely different recipe and it should be called Hoss Boss Spicey Cheese Tomato/Rotel Casserole. And I'm going to make some!

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  2. @Lynda...
    Hope it turns out good for you. Yeoldfurt sure liked it. LOL

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  3. Something new I'll have to try. - Genevieve

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  4. Oh my my! I agree with Lynda. This will be done for dinner tomorrow!

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  5. @Genevieve...
    Tweak it to your liking. If we all liked things exactly the same way, we could just go to a drive-thru. Be adventurous with it and let me know what you come up with!

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  6. @CoolChange...
    Hope you like as much as we did. Can't wait to start getting tomatoes from the garden this summer!

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  7. Oh that sounds delicious! I will definitely try that.

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  8. Craig, supposedly it's a southern dish but I grew up here and I've never heard of it until now. Sure will be a great way to use those garden tomatoes!

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  9. Just wanted to stop by and say howdy and say thanks for the funnest comment ever! I loved it. Stop that worry now, ya hear?

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  10. Jayme ...what a nice surprise! Glad you liked the comment, I meant every word! And you can bet I'll be working on the worry thing. I'm trying to break the habit, but one day at a time ...one worry at a time.

    : )

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  11. Sounds yummy, your version sounds great. Tomatoes and onions are good for us. I might have to try this. Probably good for people with a cold too, maybe with some chicken soup on the side.

    Debbie
    Right Truth
    http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

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  12. Veggies are always good for what ails ya, Debbie ...with cheese on top and chicken soup on the side it's comfort food too. Hope you guys like as much as we did.

    I see you posted today ...hope that means you're feeling better!

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  13. Once you experience a successful tweak, you're hooked ...huh, Manuela!

    Thanks for the visit. I'm still looking forward to trying that beautiful Valentine wreath project.

    : )

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  14. That is so different, I am going to check it out, sounds good! :D

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  15. I never heard of it until recently but it was really good, Julie. I might make it in a regular pie crust according to the recipe next time and see which we like better.

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