heirloom tomato pie
I wanted to write you a post about the ultimate southern, beautiful, heirloom tomato pie. It's one of my most favorite things to eat, especially with gorgeous ripe ugly tomatoes in July.
There's a local bakery in Durham that makes a killer tomato pie for sale at the farmer's market this time of year. I purchased one last summer and ate the entire thing the same day. Frighteningly delicious.
So I set out to make one of my own, using all my favorite ugly tomatoes. My mom taught me to love Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes especially, which have a delicious flavor and beautiful deep color, She doesn't mess around with the pie-- just peels the tomatoes and eats them with mayonnaise. But a tomato pie will accommodate all shades and all varieties of tomatoes.
Here's the snag to my plan for the perfect tomato pie post: I'm pretty sure this recently published Southern Living recipe can't be improved upon. The crust is more like a biscuit than a traditional pie crust, loaded with butter, sour cream, and bacon. (I made a version without the bacon and it worked fine, too, so vegetarians don't be dissuaded.) The filling is easily modified to incorporate your favorite herbs, maybe some vidalia onions. It can't be topped. It's not that I'm not eager to try, or that I'm giving up so easily, but I'm impressed. A friend of mine made it first and the next-day leftovers blew me away.
Let's not make this any more complicated than it needs to be. I'm going to direct you to the Southern Living recipe, if you haven't already seen it, and you let me know if you think we can do better. Enjoy.
The Southern Living recipe is available here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-cheddar-bacon-pie-50400000128237/
There's a local bakery in Durham that makes a killer tomato pie for sale at the farmer's market this time of year. I purchased one last summer and ate the entire thing the same day. Frighteningly delicious.
So I set out to make one of my own, using all my favorite ugly tomatoes. My mom taught me to love Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes especially, which have a delicious flavor and beautiful deep color, She doesn't mess around with the pie-- just peels the tomatoes and eats them with mayonnaise. But a tomato pie will accommodate all shades and all varieties of tomatoes.
Here's the snag to my plan for the perfect tomato pie post: I'm pretty sure this recently published Southern Living recipe can't be improved upon. The crust is more like a biscuit than a traditional pie crust, loaded with butter, sour cream, and bacon. (I made a version without the bacon and it worked fine, too, so vegetarians don't be dissuaded.) The filling is easily modified to incorporate your favorite herbs, maybe some vidalia onions. It can't be topped. It's not that I'm not eager to try, or that I'm giving up so easily, but I'm impressed. A friend of mine made it first and the next-day leftovers blew me away.
The Southern Living recipe is available here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-cheddar-bacon-pie-50400000128237/