My Take on a Southern Favorite

 After the first couple of BLT's or caprese salads there are few other dishes that sing summer's praises like the tomato pie.  Even restaurants like our favorite, 82 Queen in Charleston, join in with their versions.

Here's mine:

Roasting the tomatoes (after draining them for an hour or two) adds both sweetness and an interesting flavor to the fruit.  I roast them at 450 degrees on an oiled baking sheet with purple onion, olive oil, a sprinkling of onion powder and dried basil.  Let them cool on the baking sheet.

Prebake a pie shell and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients:

Several slicing tomatoes or heirlooms, sliced 1/4 "

1 purple onion, thinly sliced

2 cups of fresh cheddar - I use Tillamook

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup of grated parm

1 T Worcestershire 

chiffonade of 4-5 basil leaves

1/2 cup sliced green onions

chopped Kalamata olives

Mix cheddar, parm, mayo, and sour cream, and Worcestershire.  Spread half over baked pie shell.  Place a layer of roasted tomatoes and onions on top.  Spread another layer of cheese mixture, top with remaining tomatoes, olives, and green onions.  Sprinkle a bit of cheddar on top.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Getting Sauced Or Marinara In Winter

Last summer, as you may recall, was brutally warm.  Somehow making fresh marinara sauce and then canning it just did not appeal to me. (It was no accident that old time canning kitchens were outdoors -- separate from the kitchen.)  So as we harvested tomatoes, we washed, quartered and froze them with the intent of getting to the canning part in October.

I actually got to it three days ago when I pulled eight bags of frozen tomatoes from the freezer and began to defrost them.  When they thawed, I pureed them in the food processor and then sieved the puree to free it from seeds and toughened skin.  I added my secret ingredients (basil, crushed garlic and olive oil) and simmered the sauce for about a day until it cooked down.

Meanwhile, I put the jars in the dishwasher to sterilize and the lids into water to boil.

After the sauce had cooked down, I put in the rest of the secret ingredients (grated locatelli, more basil, salt, pepper and a tiny bit of brown sugar (fresh tomatoes can be acidy -- brown sugar helps negate the acid).

And here are the fruits of my labor...Now bring on the spaghetti!