My love for tomatoes has been a thing for as long as I can remember. My parents didn't grow up southern and didn't cook that way, so I was ignorant of uniquely southern cuisine until later in my life (i.e. I had to have a high school friend explain to me what a "grit" was 🤣). So when I learned that you could make a pie full of tomatoes it made my heart sing! Many recipes are simple and include lots of cheese and mayo resulting in a runny (yet yummy) substance on your plate. I saw this recipe in Southern Living magazine and the picture lured me in. The main difference I believe is the addition of bacon and an egg. Bacon can make it "dinner worthy" because it's a meat/protein, and the egg firms up the consistency as it cools. It is time intensive because of the need to blind-bake the crust, pre-roast the tomatoes, and allowing them to cool. It takes even longer if you follow the recipe exactly and you make your own crust. HA! Who has time for that? So I just bought refrigerated pie crust and sprinkled a little parmesan on the bottom before baking.
Summer is the perfect time for this recipe, obviously. And there is nothing that says "summer" to me but locally-grown tomatoes - of all kinds! This recipe calls for 3 pounds of heirlooms which are hard to find sometimes. I was fortunate to get a couple from a friend (thanks, Emily!) and you can find them at farmers markets but there was a shortage of them this year. So - I used home-grown regular red tomatoes in addition. Careful with the salt - it's plenty salty. The addition of the kosher salt over the tomatoes is mainly to draw out the water but this happens during the roasting process anyway.
Summer is the perfect time for this recipe, obviously. And there is nothing that says "summer" to me but locally-grown tomatoes - of all kinds! This recipe calls for 3 pounds of heirlooms which are hard to find sometimes. I was fortunate to get a couple from a friend (thanks, Emily!) and you can find them at farmers markets but there was a shortage of them this year. So - I used home-grown regular red tomatoes in addition. Careful with the salt - it's plenty salty. The addition of the kosher salt over the tomatoes is mainly to draw out the water but this happens during the roasting process anyway.
This was great fun to create and even more fun to share and consume! I ended up delivering slices to neighbors since my family doesn't care for tomatoes nor mayonaise! 😝 It re-heats up nicely in the microwave and then I crisp up the crust in the toaster oven. I sometimes add more shredded cheddar and let it brown a bit on the top. Enjoy!
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