Not Every Year Is A Tomato Year!

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Hello Farmgirl Friends!

How are your gardens growing?  We’ve had some hot, dry days and my tomatoes have been going crazy!  I am swimming in tomatoes and I’m so happy.  Keeping cherry tomatoes on my counter top in my favorite vintage Pyrex bowl makes snacking on them so much fun! What is it about cherry tomatoes that just taste SO good?

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I’ve done some canning of course (or some “putting up of tomatoes” as they say here in the south!) and I’m happy about that.  But I’ve also been trying to use more of them on the day to day.

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I was remembering how my Momma always made Tomato Pie in the summer and recently a friend shared a recipe that looked so good.  I looked on Pinterest to see what other recipes were there for Tomato Pie and WHOA!!!  I guess Tomato Pie is a real thing now!!  There were recipes galore.  So I chose to stick with the one my friend shared with me.

 

This pie tasted amazing I decided to make it and share with you today!

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I used this recipe (click here) and I felt like it would be just about impossible to beat! But there were SO many to try!

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For the crust you could use your favorite pie crust recipe or even purchase pre-made crust.  I love a good butter crust and that is what I used for mine.  This recipe requires blind baking your crust, which keeps it from getting soggy.

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I love that this recipe doesn’t call for too many ingredients:  cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, fresh chopped basil, chopped onion, mayonnaise, and of course tomatoes!

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I love the color of sliced home grown tomatoes.  Nothing prettier!

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Unless maybe it’s fresh home grown basil!

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Once your pie crust is baked, this recipe literally takes minutes to assemble.

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Bake until its a beautiful golden brown on top… and smell that amazing basil and cheese!

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My grand-girls were here for the day and they had such a hard time thinking about a Tomato Pie!!!  They are kids that have been raised to try new and different foods and they always enjoy them; but for some reason Tomato Pie was just not making them too excited.  Until…. they smelled it and saw this!

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Their slice of pie was gone in a flash!  Jillian said “Gram, it tastes a lot like Pizza with pie crust”!

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So tell me… do you make Tomato Pie???  I’d love to hear about your recipe!

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

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Dori

  1. Marlene Capelle says:

    This pie looks fabulous. We’ve got tomatoes coming out of our ears (a good thing) so I’m going to try this immediately. Thank you. We have sweet 100’s on a bowl on the counter (the one’s that don’t get eaten right off the vine) and I think they’re so much better than cherry tomatoes. Different strokes and all that but when it says sweet it means sweet.

  2. Judy says:

    I have never had tomato pie, but I’m definitely going to make this one. I have Amish paste tomatoes, but I’m guessing that they will work fine. Yours looks yummy!

  3. Tawanna Yelton says:

    This is my first year gardening in many years. My corn and beans got eaten by local critters but my tomatoes did not disappoint. I can pick my cherry tomatoes twice a day! I’ve had enough to share with my friends! I too keep a bowl of cherry tomatoes on my counter as a quick snack throughout the day.

  4. Sandi King says:

    Hi Dori; Wow, your pie looks so good. Never tried a tomato pie but have heard about them. Never made one either though we do have tomatoes this year but my plants are starting to turn yellow for some reason and my Beef Steaks didn’t produce at all * could be because of the basil I planted close to them* I guess, but the plant grew really huge, just no tomatoes on it. Lots of blooms too but no pollination I guess. Maybe net year will be ok. I did get tomatoes on my Big Boy plant and they were delicious. Not very big though, they ripened before they grew very big. Lots of green tomatoes on all my plants but the Beef Steak one. We planted them in a raised garden container. Maybe too many together also could be a reason. Will do something different next year and hope to get some really big tomatoes. It is my favorite summer food. Thanks for sharing your post.

    • Nancy says:

      I too was having trouble with one of my tomato plants getting flowers but not producing tomatoes. It’s frustrating to watch all the flowers die. So I put on my pretend bee costume and fertilize them myself. I just took a bloom from another plant and touched each of the flowers on different plants with it. As long as the plants aren’t related, it worked. I have tons of tomatoes on all of my plants and the bees finally took over too.

  5. Donna Kozak says:

    I’ve been making a similar tomato pie for years, using different tomatoes and it is always delicious…this year our tomatoes are taking longer to ripen so we’re hoping for some warmer weather soon … I do love my Sungold and Brandywine tomatoes – your pie looks yummy.

  6. Lisa says:

    Hi dori
    Yes that’s a nice recipe
    I just retired from heirloom seed business and I used to sell about 100 plus kinds of tomato seeds
    Here is my favorite tomato pie recipe it’s
    From my late great fellow tomato lover
    Norwood Meiners from Louisiana
    Make your
    pie shell
    Sorry fori I come from the south and we always use lard in our pie crusts
    Anyway
    Layer your tomatoes and try to drain the juice a bit
    Then a layer of sweet onion like Visalia
    Then a layer of mayonnaise
    (We in the south swear by duke’s)
    Then repeat
    Until full
    Best if you add Parmesan or
    Romano on top
    Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes until bubbly
    I like to
    Mix it up and use several colors of tomatoes
    Ruby’s German green is best for a green type

    Hope you like it!
    Enjoy!!
    Lisa

  7. LESLIE GLEASON says:

    Everyone in the family is about gone but Momma, Daddy and I still love a tomato pie. I just make an old fashion pie crust. (why is it Grandmas and Moms pie crusts were always flakier than mine!?) The tomatoes Daddy raises every year, onion, basil, mozzarella, parm, and a little ricotta. I do like to lay the slices of tomato out between two paper towels to get out a little of the moisture before baking. If I don’t have fresh basil just sprinkle with some dried Italian seasoning.

    Has anyone had tomato sandwiches before? You just need really soft white bread!

  8. Regan Louise says:

    I love tomato pie!!! And I have a super recipe. I’m not a Mayo person, so mine has some different toppings, but it is similar. These are some of the changes I made
    I added a beaten egg and 2 TBL flour to tomatoes, cooked bacon & thyme instead of basil.
    I substituted sour cream for mayo. Could also use yogurt. I used gueryer, cheddar & jack cheese. I topped it with breadcrumbs & Butter crumble. I also caramelized the onions and drained the tomatoes.
    One of my summer favorites!

  9. Marilyn says:

    That pie looks delicious. Enjoy!
    Marilyn

  10. Pam says:

    Hi, I made the tomato pie for dinner tonight and we thought it was delicious. I did change one thing. I’m not a fan of mayo so I used 1/4 cup mayo and 1/2 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt As suggested. Next time I might try all Greek yogurt and I wondered if you had tried that.
    Thanks for a nice recipe.
    Pam

  11. hi again Dori,

    I wanted to share my own easy peasy tomato glut sauce:

    EASY ROASTED TOMATO GLUT SAUCE
    This is so easy and perfect for the end of the season when you have more tomatoes that you know what to do with. I’m not big on canning, so this is the way I preserve the bounty of my harvest the easy way! It’s very fast and much easier to make than it sounds.
    3 medium onions (I prefer Vidalia’s, but any white sweet onion is fine) sliced thin
    2 – 3 lbs (about 8-12 large fruit) heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced (I often make individually colored batches, using only golden colored tomatoes, or black fruit or pink fruit)
    3/4 cup fresh chopped basil leaves, the smaller the leaf the better
    2 Tablespoons fresh chopped oregano (or you may use 1/2 teaspoon dried)
    1/2 cup fresh chopped Italian (flat leafed) parsley (or regular curly parsley if you don’t have Italian)
    3-6 Tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
    3 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

    DRESSING:
    2-3 cloves minced garlic
    2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (this sounds strange but its important for full flavor)
    1/4 teaspoon sugar (you may skip if using sweet type tomatoes)
    1/4 teaspoon sea salt
    1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
    1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

    Combine all dressing ingredients. Using a large baking or roasting pan: layer onions and tomatoes drizzling the dressing over each layer. Keep layering. Put the cheese and breadcrumbs on top layer. Bake one hour. If it gets juicy, you may spoon off the extra liquid. I like to keep it all in for more flavor. I let the pan cool and just spoon out servings in zipper freezer bags and freeze. That’s it! Use over pasta or any recipe calling for tomato sauce. The sweet, rich flavor of the Heirloom tomatoes really comes out when baked.
    ==================

    ENJOY!!
    HAPPY EATING , Lisa

  12. Gail Summerlin says:

    I love tomato pie. Even my kids who won’t eat fresh tomatoes love my pie. It’s just a pre-baked pie crust with lots of Monterey Jack shredded cheese, sliced tomatoes, lots of fresh basil and oregano, bread crumbs on top with melted butter. It’s a Paula Deen recipe. Wonderful!

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