Country Tomato Pie

I've always found recipes, cooking and food very interesting. I've been collecting recipes since I was 7 or 8 and have always found the chemistry of it fascinating. I can be cooking a cake, for instance, and I will start to think and ask myself questions . . .


Questions like, who was the first person that put flour, eggs, fat and sugar together and came up with cake? And why? What inspired them to do so?



I have always found it amazing that, by combining just a few simple ingredients together, you can create something totally edible and wonderfully tasty. . . and that you can then take the same ingredients and put them together in a different way, using a different method and come up with something equally as delicious, but totally different!




For instance . . . you can put together a starch (bread), some cheese and sliced tomatoes, and then, with a bit of seasoning, you have a scrumptious cheese and tomato sandwich . . .

or . . .



change the starch to a pie crust and layer in the tomatoes and cheese, add a bit of onion and herbs, and some mayo . . .

and you have a deliciously moreish summer pie!



*Country Tomato Pie*
Serves 4-6
Printable Recipe

This is a really tasty supper dish, just perfect for these summer days when the tomatoes are ripening on the vine fastet than we can get them used up! I also make this in the winter, but I use tinned tomatoes then. I use one tin of chopped tomatoes, and I drain them really well, and then, I squeeze as much moisture out of them as I can.

2 to 3 large tomatoes
1 small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
1 TBS julliened fresh basil (roll several leaves into a cigar shape and cut crosswise)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 to 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (I like to use French Mayonnaise)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 partially baked 9 inch wide, deep pie shell



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel. This can be very easily done by cutting a small x with a sharp knife on the bottom. Dip into boiling water and leave for 30 to 40 seconds. Remove from the boiling water and plunge into ice water. The skin should now easily slip right off.

Slice the tomatoes into thick slices. Place them in layers into the pastry shell, sprinkling each layer with some spring onions, basil, salt and pepper. Mix together the mayonnaise and the cheese. Spread this mixture over top of the tomatoes. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the filling is nicely browned.

Remove and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Delicious!