Weekend Kitchen: Fresh Tomato Pie

I'm calling this the Summer of the Tomato.  My nine tomato plants are going strong and have produced an amazing amount of fruit the last month or so.  I've been planning my meals around the tomatoes!  Not that I'm complaining.  This tomato pie was easy, delicious, and a fantastic way to use up 2.5 lbs of tomatoes!

Does anyone know what variety this heirloom is?  It was labeled as 'Green Zebra' when I bought the little plant.  Clearly, it's not!  It's delicious and I'd love to know what it is so I can plant it again next year.

(Recipe adapted from one by Southern Boy Dishes

Fresh Tomato Pie

- 2.5 pounds of tomatoes (use any combination you'd like!)

- 3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

- 1-3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

- 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

- 3/4 mayonnaise

- 1/4 cup basil, chiffonade; packed tightly; plus additional for garnish

- 1 teaspoon dried thyme

- salt & pepper

- 1 egg, lightly beaten

- 1 recipe pie crust (I used my old standby from Smitten Kitchen)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare pie crust and place in refrigerator until ready to use.  You can do this the day before, if you'd like.

2.  Cut the tomatoes into 1/4 thick slices.  Place in a single layer on paper towels to remove excess moisture while you prepare the mayo mixture.

3.  In a small bowl, combine cheeses, mayo, basil, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and egg.

4.  Remove pie dough from the refrigerator, and roll out to a round shape to fit in your pie plate.  Place dough in pie plate.

5.  Evenly spread onions on top of pie dough.  Top onion with 1/3 of the mayo mixture. Layer half of tomatoes on top of the mayo mixture.  Repeat with another layer of the mayo mixture and tomatoes, reserving enough tomatoes for the top layer.  Spread out remainder of mayo mixture.  Lay out  last layer of tomatoes on top, overlapping slightly.

6.  Bake in oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until crust is slightly browned and tomatoes are bubbling.  You may want to place your pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet for baking so that the juices don't run down into the oven.

7.  Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving.  Top with additional basil, if desired, before serving.

Darn, this was good.  Summer in a pie.

On another note, can you believe it's September?  I'm in denial, I think.  Luckily, we are in for a week of hot, summer temps, so I won't complain too much!