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Friday, July 1, 2022

Tomato Pie With A Surprise


As most of you who read me semi regularly know, I live in the south.  And because I live here there are a couple of things we eat regularly; tomatoes and pimento cheese. I am pretty sure if I did not eat/love them I would have to surrender my southern card and give up okra, sweet tea and cornbread for life. 
A pimento cheese sandwich on white bread with a thick slice of sun ripened tomato is delicious. so try to imagine a dinner meal with the same deliciousness baked in a pie shell___Nirvana!




 

This is going to be a how to rather than a recipe because there are several ways to go about it.

1 pie crust (pre-baked to a very light brown. Be sure to poke holes with a fork over the bottom before baking. If you have a great pie crust recipe*, make it.  Or it you had rather, just buy one already made. Either the one in the aluminum pan or the Pillsbury type that you put into your own pie plate works )
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and blotted dry, then blotted dry again (and even a third time if they are still wet)
 2 cups(ish) pimento cheese . You can purchase your pimento cheese but make sure it is a drier variety. Mrs. Strattons absolutely will not work. Palmetto might, but better yet buy it from a deli  or sandwich shop. If you have a Newk's near you, theirs would work very well. But  it is very quick and easy to make. I did mince a little red onion and added it to the pimento cheese just for a little more flavor.

Pre bake the pie crust and let it cool. Arrange the dried tomato slices over the bottom of the crust, stacking them no more than 2 slices high. Dollop the pimento cheese over the tomatoes then spread gently so no tomato bits are showing and the cheese mix is touching the edges of the pie crust.
Pop it into a 350 degree oven and bake for about 30 minutes Remove from the oven and let it cool until it can be easily sliced. 

This, with some chopped romaine and a light oil and vinegar dressing was the perfect summer meal

It was so good. The only change I would make to this would be to have some fresh basil "ribbons" on each slice.
This would work for a vegetarian meal and with slight alterations using vegetable shortening for the crust,  vegan cheese, and veggie mayonnaise could easily be made vegan.







*Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cp lard
5-7 tablespoons cold water (I live in a very humid summertime climate so I start with 5 and add more drops at a time as needed)

Mix the salt and flour, cut the cold butter into small slices, cut the lard into small bits. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the fats into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal (Work fast so the butter will not melt) Add the cold water (I use ice in the water to keep it super chilled) and work it into the mix until the dough is sm both and pliable, being careful not to overwork it. Split it into half and make two balls. On a floured surface roll it out into about a 10 inch circle. (I did not have quite half the dough when I rolled mine out, so I did not have enough of an edge to make the really pretty fluted edge. We lived!

23 comments:

  1. A few years ago I tried making homemade pimento cheese, and I have to admit, it was delish. Unfortunately, I'm the only one who likes it. I'd like to try this pie -- but only so far as ordering it in a restaurant.

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    1. There are a couple of restaurants where you can find this occasionally, and one restaurant in Mentone where tomato pie is their signature dish.

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  2. That sounds delicious! I’ve been thinking about pimento cheese spread for one of these days.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  3. I just discovered the deliciousness of a pimento cheese spread at a brewery food truck. The sold little tubs of cheese with a sleeve of Ritz crackers for $7 and it was delicious with the cold beer. I can see that it would be darn good with tomato. I'll have to think on the pie bit-though I'm sure if you made it , it was terrific.

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    1. I make tomato pies every summer but have never made one with pimento cheese before. Now I am not sure I will ever make one again without it.

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  4. I have never had a pie like this but I love tomatoes and pimento cheese (and pie crust), so it sounds delicious.

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  5. I'm from VA, so sort of southern. I do love tomatoes and pimento cheese, but I have never tried them together in a pie. Sounds interesting!

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    1. It was very good. I will be making it several more times this summer

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  6. I'm born and bred Mississippi so love pimento cheese, and my cousin used to make a great tomato pie. Just never thought to put the two together. I have everything except the pimento, and it just got added to the shopping list.

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    1. Frances, it was fantastic. I only thought my old tomato pie recipe was great. This tops it!

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  7. I have heard of green tomato pie all my life, but not this. My first reaction is that the tomato would ruin my pimiento and cheese. I am very much a pnc purist...lol. But, I am game. However, standing long enough to make this is beyond me. But, I will figure out something. Do you eat this hot or cooled to room temp or cold?

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    1. You eat it hot, but I made it the morning of, because I did not want the kitchen hot when we were eating. I stuck it in the refrigerator then nuked the slices on our plates.

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  8. I’m salivating over here at the thought of a tomato pie. They are so delicious and I love pimento cheese. The two of them together would be so good. One day at a church potluck, one of the ladies gave me a slice of onion pie and it too was delicious. You can’t beat good old southern cooking. 😋

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    1. My sister hates tomatoes, but she tried a bite of this and decided to make the same thing with Vidalia onions rather than tomatoes.. I am going to try that too!

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    2. Sauteed Vidalia or chopped and raw?

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    3. I have not thought it through yet, but most likely I will wilt them before putting them in the pie shell.

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  9. This sounds fabulous! I would love to try a tomato pie. It's definitely not a thing here. I also adore pimento cheese, and am so interested to see how they'd taste together!

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  10. Thank you so much for the recipe. It looks and sounds delicious.

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  11. It looks delicious. Not sure if I've ever had pimento cheese, though!

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    1. You did not grow up in Alabama. It was and has always been a summertime staple here. Oh who am I kidding. We eat it year round!

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