In my most recent (and first ever) Pie on Sunday post, I
began with saying that I love pie.
I love something else almost as much.
Basil.
I love basil.
Fresh, sweet basil.
And because of basil, among other things, I’m already breaking
with tradition a little this week. Usually when I think of pie, especially pie
on Sunday, I first imagine a sweet fruit filling between two flaky layers.
But this week, I had a few reasons to take a brief detour.
My family and I traveled to Minnesota for a wedding and a family reunion on my
husband’s side. It was requested that the cousins (that includes us) bring an
appetizer to share before the main meal at the reunion.
What to bring, what to bring…
While contemplating this very dilemma, I had glanced over at
the two boxes of tomatoes resting on my kitchen counter. A beautiful array of
blemish-free tomatoes, perfectly round and red, a small variety called “4th
of July”, seemed to sit up a little more straight with their crunchy dry stems
perking up as I stared deep in thought. I’d already canned a batch of salsa as
well as a few pints of larger tomatoes to have on hand over the winter. What
could I use these little beauties for?
The dilemma wasn’t so much what to make, but more so what could
I do to use them up. You see, this is
the dilemma every year late in the summer, when my dad delivers (several times)
a plethora of pretty tomatoes. He does
this because he has the same tomato problem every year.
He plants way too many tomato plants. This year, the most
ever: 54.
Yes. You read that correctly.
54.
(Fifty-four.)
Not 54 tomatoes (which would probably be a just-right yield
in itself), but 54 tomato plants.
If a person’s sanity could be measured by tomatoes alone, I
think my dad could be certifiable.
And it isn’t just the tomatoes. He goes crazy with just
about his entire garden, which by the way, is large enough to feed the entire
Duggar family. All 21 of them (by my last count). Really.
His usual potato planting practices alone result in anywhere
from over 200 to more than 350 hills
of potatoes in the ground, depending on the year. And imagine the number of
potatoes each hill yields. While he doesn’t go quite so crazy with other
vegetables, he does plant many different types, including cabbage, Brussels
sprouts, eggplant, kohlrabi, rutabaga, carrots, onions, beans, cucumbers,
summer and winter squashes, all kinds of peppers, zucchini, kale, and more. And
there are usually several varieties of each. Which is why
I think my dad ends up with so many tomato plants: He can’t bear to plant just
one of each variety. It’s his insurance policy that every variety will survive to
harvest, no matter the circumstances.
And every year, it ultimately becomes my tomato problem.
Which brings us back to pie. And basil.
Since I would be making a pie for Sunday anyway, and I needed an appetizer for the
reunion, and I had all those
tomatoes, I knew just what to do.
I would make Tomato Basil Pie, and kill three birds with one
stone. (I wonder if those birds they refer to are pie birds. You know, the ceramic
kind that are placed in the middle of the pie to vent and allow steam to
escape? Seems a little more than a coincidence, don’t you think?)
An irresistible combination of cheeses layered with diced
fresh tomatoes and fragrant ribbons of slivered fresh basil leaves atop a
prebaked crust and baked again until it all becomes a melted bliss, this pie
can’t be beat. It’s the perfect answer to a hot cheesy dip, yet instead of any
dipping, the crust plays the part of built-in crackers, and you can eat it with
a fork.
Since my pie crust recipe makes enough dough for a two-crust
pie, and a tomato basil pie needs just one crust, I decided to go ahead and make
two pies. And I’m glad I did, because I went home from the reunion with two
empty pie plates.
Yours in pie,
Mindy
This recipe for Tomato
Basil Pie comes from The Ivy Bake Shoppe Cookbook, by Martha Wolf. The Ivy BakeShoppe and Café is located in historic downtown Fort Madison, which is along
the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa. I’ve never been to The Ivy, but it’s
on my list of places to visit, and I can’t wait for the day, because I’ve heard
that their breakfast pastries, coffee bar, and lunch items are simply irresistible.
No customer leaves The Ivy disappointed. And you won’t be disappointed with
this Tomato Basil Pie.
Tomato Basil Pie
1 baked 9-inch pie crust
*3 medium-size tomatoes, diced and drained
1 c. fresh basil leaves, loosely measured, then slivered
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ c. mayonnaise
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼ c. shredded Parmesan cheese
Put ¾ c. of the mozzarella cheese on the bottom of the pie
crust. Cover cheese with tomatoes and then layer on basil. In a bowl, combine
garlic, mayonnaise, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and remaining ¾ c. mozzarella
cheese, and mix well. Spread carefully on top of basil layer. Bake at 350°
for 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden and bubbly. Makes 8 servings.
*For this pie, I used about
9 of the small “4th of July” tomatoes, which are the size of a large
cherry tomato. They were rather juicy, so I made sure to drain them very well.
You could use a Roma-type tomato, they have less juice, but still drain them.
You don’t want any excess liquid to ruin your cheesy basil bliss.
I, too, have been known to have a "tomato problem". ;-) This is a great way to use up that bountiful supply...absolutely delish! You could almost make a meal out of it, it's that filling!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think this pie was originally intended to be a side dish, but it's so versatile.....side dish, appetizer, or a great lunch on it's own!
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