4/15/09

tomato pie

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I'm pretty certain tomato pie is an old-fashioned recipe. And there are a few recipes on the web for it. This recipe comes about from my experience, as a child eating heirloom tomatoes with sugar and mayo on them. With summer fast approaching (thank goodness!) that means abundant tomatoes will be here. Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite, and Whole Foods has some of the best around. Since I am not a gardener, playing with dirt is so not me. I highly doubt I ever will be a gardener, so thankfully there is a Whole Foods that sells nice, juicy heirloom tomatoes in the summer. Plus I have a few clients that love to share their fast growing summer tomatoes with me.
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I have some distant family that is Canadian and spent some of my childhood summers in the Thousand Islands region. I clearly remember summertime dinner being fresh, juicy tomatoes with cracked pepper and sugar (yes sugar), slab of sharp cheddar cheese & mayo, and corn on the cob slathered in butter. No, we weren't poor, it was just the way they did a summer meal from time to time. Man, that was good and fresh. Ever since those summers I've always loved a good tomato and sharp cheddar cheese sandwich with a hint of pepper and mayo.
So my latest creation, or craving, comes from some of those memories. Keep in mind, this pie is very rich and full of fat. A treat of sorts. Best to eat it cold, not hot from the oven, well, unless you're daring. Look at this money shot. This is one pie that tastes perfect when eaten cold; like a tomato & cheese sandwich with crust!
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tomato pie
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com (family recipe)
recipe and photographs are copyrighted & are the property of Dawn Finicane.
print recipe

1 (9") deep dish pie shell, kept frozen (recipe here) or use pre-made crusts
4-5 lg. tomatoes, thickly cut (heirloom works wonderful in this)
Freshly cracked black pepper
a gentle sprinkling of fine sugar
1 c. good quality mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup cooked real bacon, chopped fairly small (not the fake stuff please)

I like to keep my deep dish pie crust ready to go and sitting in the freezer till I’m ready to use; it cooks up better that way. I've also used premade pie crust and they work just as fine, but they also need to be kept cold till ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 350 for convection. Slice up the tomatoes in rather thick slices and place them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
Get out pie crust from freezer, place sliced tomatoes over crust; do a double layer of sliced tomatoes. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Then sprinkle with an ever-so-light sprinkling of white sugar, then some freshly cracker black pepper.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise with shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped up bacon. Spoon over tomatoes; try to get it spread evenly over the tomatoes, but don’t push down.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Mine was done at the 25 minute mark, so best to keep an eye on it at the 20 minute mark.
I let my pie cool down about an hour before slicing into it. It really does taste best when it’s refrigerated and served cold. Serve with a nice glass of white wine.
Note: I love my crust nice and dark brown, if you don’t like it that way then cook it less. This is a really rich pie, so cut the slices smaller than you would an apple or other fruit pie. (not the size I did in the above photo).

75 comments:

  1. I used to looove tomato and cheese sandwiches. I went to Toronto as a child and also remember the corn. Is corn a specialty there? Anyway, delicious looking pie. Thanks for reminding me of things I can't eat! :)

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  2. I haven't eaten in two days, this is really looking good. We are going to plant heirloom tomatoes soon, I will save this one for the summer!

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  3. oh oh oh ... I want a slice of that! I have a feeling I will have a ton of tomatoes this summer (I can hope!!) so I will be holding on tho this recipe for sure!!

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  4. That looks like a slice of heaven! Wow, just beautiful dawn!

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  5. Tomatoes are my favs. That looks good and on the healthy side, too. Giving this a try!!

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  6. This looks so good. I'll have to bookmark for when I have some juicy jersey tomatoes in the summer.

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  7. that recipe looks great!

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  8. What a great looking pie. It reminds me of my favorite soup - Tomato Cheddar Soup. YUM

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  9. mmmmm. i just adore tomato pies. there's something so homey about them. looks delish!

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  10. mmmm, full of fat, you must have made this JUST for me!!

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  11. your summer meal did not sound like poor food at all but rather people who were enjoying the food they had available.

    I think it would kill me to have to wait for this pie to cool down before eating it. Growing up I was the one with the burnt mouth because I was dumb enough to be playing hot potato with a cookie and then throw it into my mouth.

    Looks wonderful and heirloom tomatoes especially bradywine are still one of my favorites.

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  12. i want to be eating this pie right now

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  13. Looks delicious, and you can't go wrong with a recipe that has bacon in it - yum!

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  14. I used to make something very similar to this and haven't for ages--thanks so much for the inspiration...and for the bacon!

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  15. I've never heard of tomato pie. This looks good! Then again, all your food always looks good!

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  16. I LOVE to dig in the dirt and garden and I will be making this with my gorgeous summer tomatoes. It looks fantastic, the fat factor doesnt bother me, fat=tasty, plus theres always exercise;)

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  17. I love tomatoes but I have never had or seen tomato pie? Sounds really good.

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  18. I've never had tomato pie.. it looks delicious with all that cheese on top!

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  19. What a great combination. That's a HOT looking pie dawn, as in as handsome as the other hub!! LOL

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  20. Oh my goodness! I've never heard of this before, but it looks just mouthwatering great! I so want to try this! YUM!

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  21. We jsut put our tomato plants in the ground and I am keeping this recipe to try. Your photos are gorgeous!

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  22. Now that is a great dish. I have been looking for some kind of pie with tomatoes and this is it. Thank you...I am going to make this sometime soon!

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  23. My husband saw that picture & said oh yeah we'll make that when the tomatoes are in season

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  24. I can't wait to make this. I think I want to try a version with blue cheese.

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  25. Tomato pie rocks!! Call me old-fashioned, but it is one of my favorite things to eat during the summer. I've never put mayo in mine, I bet it gives it a richness and a nice contrast.

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  26. gosh! this looks freaking gorgeous. do you think I could sub yogurt for the mayo?

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  27. That looks to die for!!! I love cooking with fresh tomatoes, and combined with bacon, cheese and pie crust? Hello, luvah!!

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  28. This was really good and tasty....when I took a slice for lunch, everyone came by to look at me

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  29. Ciao!

    Your recipes and your photos are getting better and better!!

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  30. stellar, stellar pie, dawn! i love the red maters contrasting with the orange cheese. and may i say, your crust looks particularly buttery and delicious.

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  31. I love tomatoes and this pie sounds so perfect! Yum!

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  32. That looks gorgeous! :)

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  33. this pie has been on my mind so much...It looks absolutely delicious...it looks quichey, it looks rich, it looks satisfying.

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  34. I've heard of tomato pie but I've never senn a picture of one or really ever seen a recipe. Since tomatoes are my favorite veggie and yes the summer will bring a bounty of them I'm bookmarking this, it looks wonderful! I love your creations!!

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  35. Dawn, this post reminds me of Summer! I love making Tomato Pie, and I can't wait until the weather is in our favor.

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  36. YUM Dawn! Great that you posted this for us to save the recipe for when the summer tomatoes bust out! Thank you for this!

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  37. your photos are so amazing! so glad i stumbled upon your blog!

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  38. Looks great!

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  39. Ooh, that looks fantastic-- might have to sub bechamel or custard for the mayo though, as I'm not a super fan-- but I'll try anything once! :)

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  40. This looks like pure heaven Dawn...I love all of your recipes. I wish you were my neighbor - can you move to Oregon?

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  41. My mom made something similar to this when I was growing up and I remember dreading that it would be on my plate, but now looking at it again I find myself craving a slice. This looks wonderful and I love how perfectly golden the cheese turned out. This is gorgeous Dawn! I'm with you on the dirt thing. My hubby planted my garden for me ;)

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  42. Give us a little green salad on the side, and we're set!

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  43. That looks like a deep dish pizza or something! But it looks amazing :)

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  44. That's totally calling my name! Want. Some. Now. What great memories of summer from your childhood.

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  45. Oh hell Dawn! That just looks so freaking good. I know what you mean about tomatoes and cheddar, man that is the good stuff. This pie looks to die for, and I am so bookmarking this recipe.

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  46. Love this-my daughter loves tomatos and I have a ready made (forgive) pie crust

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  47. Seriously-you could be a photog on top of a bakery owner/chef!

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  48. How beautiful Dawn!I grew up on my Great Grandfather's tomato pies. I loved them for breakfast. Thanks for the memories...and now I can't wait for the Jersey tomatoes to get ripe!!

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  49. Dawn, can we talk about how much I adore tomatoes? You have given me the perfect pie. I adore what you've done with this recipe. Amazing, just amazing. You are brilliant!

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  50. That description of summer tomatoes has me drooling. As does this pie.

    SO SAD that I won't see a good, ripe tomato until August. Will have to bookmark this and hold back my drool until then :)

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  52. Just love, love tomato sandwiches! And... oh how I can't wait until harvest time, freshly picked tomatoes, that's when I'm in my glory!!

    Everything about your tomato pie looks totally amazing and that steak diane sitting just below, oh my word!!! YUM!!!!

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  53. My mouth is watering big time. Looks freakin' wonderful. I can't wait to experiment w/ tomatoes this summer!

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  54. A light flaky pie crust filled with tomatoes, mayo and melted cheese sounds so amazingly good!

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  55. interesting... when i hear tomato pie i think pizza w/o cheese. this might win out though :) i'm all about the grilled cheese and tomato!!

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  56. The crust on that pie is amazing!!! And I'm not even crazy about tomatoes, but that looks really tasty!

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  57. This looks gorgeous Dawn it is so perfect looking and those tomatoes look delicious.

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  59. This is delicious!
    Even my non tart loving family enjoyed it...thanks so much for the recipe and your always wonderful blog.

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  60. Just wanted to say thank you for this recipe! I googled "tomato pie" and found your blog that way.
    We had some beautiful tomatoes that needed to be eaten soon and your recipe was just what we needed. To say my family LOVED it would be putting it mildly. It was absolutely wonderful!
    Thanks again!

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  61. Thank you so much for an awesome recipe! We have a bumper crop of tomatoes, and I was getting sick of the same-old same-old stuff. Saw a link to your recipe, and gave it a try. It got rave reviews :)

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  62. Ok, I just made this. It is obscenely good. I didn't have cheddar cheese in the house so I used mozzarella. I'm sure it changed the flavor but it was still amazing. My BF is kissing my feet over it. Seriously.
    BTW, someone mentioned they thought this looked "healthy". Yikes, no! There's a cup of mayo and a cup of cheese in it, plus bacon lol. But well worth the splurge as a treat :) I'll be using this recipe again and again (but not to frequently or I'll gain back everything I just lost on Weight Watchers :P)

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  63. I will be making this tonight to serve for lunch tomorrow. Hooray for something great to make with my heirloom tomatoes.

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  64. This was so good when I made it, thanks for a great recipe.

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  65. My tomatoes are ripening faster than I can pick them. I have 4 very healthy over abundant plants. After finding this Blog I loved the idea of Tomato Pie. I made 4 and talk about good... They turned out beautifully and tasted wonderful. The ones I shared with my Neighbors got rave reviews. This will be a regular at our house as long as the Tomatoes last. I'm wondering if you could make them and then freeze them? Wouldn't it be wonderful along about January to pull one out to eat and taste the wonderful fruits of your Garden again?

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  66. Just wanted to say I've been making this recipe frequently since I last posted a year ago. This year, I grew my own heirloom tomatoes and that made a world of difference in the recipe. This really has become a staple recipe in our home. Thanks so much for this one!

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    Replies
    1. thank you so much for that.
      I love to hear that.
      This tomato pie is my favorite too.
      It reminds me of my summer childhood.
      And yes, heirlooms make everything better

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  67. And another one goes in the oven! I am now famous for "my" tomato pie! We absolutely love this and I make it over and over again! Thank you again for the wonderful recipe. Delish!

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  68. I *just* ate a big tomato sammie with hellmanns and oh how I want this pie right now!!!!

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