Hey there, I'm Jill, the founder of GrownupDish.com and your go-to gal for everything midlife. As a recovering CEO, food lover, world traveler, and self-proclaimed pop culture aficionado, I've got a wealth of experience and wisdom to share with you.
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Choose Good Tomatoes
Have you ever eaten tomato pie? It’s a southern specialty that makes the most of tomato season by tucking ripe, juicy, flavorful tomatoes into a buttery pie crust And topping with a layer of melty cheese. There are a gazillion tomato pie recipes but I’m sharing my shortcuts and hacks for making an amazing quick & easy southern tomato pie.
When your recipe has minimal ingredients, you need to find the BEST ingredients that you can. I really like making this recipe with heirloom tomatoes.
Heirloom tomatoes can be a little bit ugly – but they taste sooo much better than their grocery store counterparts.
I love heirloom tomatoes for their idiosyncratic qualities. They often have have colors, textures, sizes, and flavors that vary from species to species, in the same way that apple varieties do.
But, don’t stress if you can’t find heirloom tomatoes. You can make this recipe with ANY variety of ripe tomato. I’ve even used cherry tomatoes and it turns out fine.
Sliced vs Chopped Tomatoes
Some tomato pie recipes call for using sliced tomatoes. But I prefer to chop them for a couple of reasons:
In the step where you drain the tomatoes before baking, I think they drain better when they’re chopped than when they are sliced.
It’s easier to cut and eat the pie once it’s cooked
How To Drain Your Tomatoes
While you are pre-baking the pie crust, chop the tomatoes, give them a very light sprinkle of salt, and place them in a mesh colander over an empty bowl or over the sink. Let them drain for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will get rid of the excess tomato juice and ensure that your pie filling isn’t too juicy and hard to cut.
Use a Ready-Made Pie Crust
If you LOVE to make pie crusts, feel free to make one from scratch. But I find that using a store-bought frozen pie crust works really well and saves lots of time. (Feel free to use a gluten-free pie crust if you prefer.) You’ll pre-bake the pie crust and then add the filling and bake it a second time.
Here’s what it looks like with the tomato filling (before you add the cheesy topping:
And here’s what it looks like, just before it goes into the oven:
And here’s the finished product:
I like to serve 1/4 of the pie per person alongside a big green salad as a delightful vegetarian lunch or dinner. Or you could serve it as an elegant side dish alongside a simple grilled beef, seafood, chicken or pork dish.
Try this quick and easy southern tomato pie recipe and let me know what you think. Be sure to tag #grownupdish or @grownup_dish on Instagram so I can share your posts!
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Check out my other favorite vegetarian recipes HERE.
Make a quick and easy southern tomato pie. Tuck ripe tomatoes into a buttery pie crust and top with a layer of melty cheese. It’s delicious!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
Prepared 9” pie shell
3 – 4 ripe medium to large tomatoes
3 green onions, chopped
3/4cup good quality mayonnaise
dash of hot sauce
2cup shredded cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar and parmesan)
1/4cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Prebake pie crust according to directions. You want it to be cooked but not too brown.
While pie crust is cooking, chop tomatoes, sprinkle lightly with salt and drain in a colander for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Layer chopped green onions on the bottom of the cooked pie crust.
Spoon the drained chopped tomatoes on top of the green onion layer.
Sprinkle the tomato layer with freshly chopped basil.
Mix shredded cheese and mayonnaise together with a dash of hot sauce and some freshly ground black pepper. (No need to add additional salt as the cheese is salty.)
Top the tomatoes with the cheese mixture, spreading edge to edge across the pie crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes until the cheese layer is bubbly and golden brown.
Let the pie sit for 5 – 10 minutes before slicing.
