Tomato Pie

One of my favorite websites is Kevin Lee Jacobs' A Garden for the House. I discovered this site only a few months ago when searching for gardening sites. It is indeed a great site for gardening tips, but so much more. It has amazing recipes! In the past couple of months, I have made three of Kevin's recipes with great success: Lettuce Soup, Blue Cheese Dressing and, most recently, Tomato Pie.

I had never heard of tomato pie before. I had heard of The Tomato Tart, but I just thought that was my friend Sabrina and her site. About a week ago a recipe for tomato pie appeared on Kevin's site and I just had to try it! All I could think of for a week was how much I wanted to try this tomato pie! Well, I did last Saturday and I wasn't disappointed. It was delicious! Not only that, it was beautiful. Look at that picture! It has to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever made.

I made a few modifications to my version of the recipe based on a few others I researched online, but this recipe is all Kevin. My changes are minimal. I used two cheeses, added a shallot and drained the tomatoes a bit. Most recipes call for a pie shell rather than biscuits, but I loved the biscuits. I think they make the dish. Try to get the freshest tomatoes you can find, but I will be honest and say I only had time to go to the supermarket and this pie still was delicious.

Ingredients

• 10 refrigerated biscuits from package (I used Pillsbury Grands Jr.) 
• 2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced 
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/3 cup Fresh basil, sliced thinly (about 10 leaves) 
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated 
• 1 cup gruyere cheese, grated 
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375. 
2. Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices and place in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain for 10 minutes. 
3. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with non-stick spray. 
4. Press the biscuits against the sides and bottom of the plate and form a crust. 
5. Layer the tomato slices on the dough and give them a couple grinds of pepper. 
6. Sprinkle the shallot on top of the tomatoes evenly. 
7. Sprinkle on the basil. 
8. Combine the grated cheese and mayonnaise together. 
9. Spread the mixture on top of the tomatoes. 
10. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned. 
11. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings