Best Tomato Pie Recipe

Name: Best Tomato Pie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 9-inch pie shell (see pie crust recipe for homemade version); 1/2 cup chopped yellow or red onion (about 1/3 onion, diced); 3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups (700 ml) chopped tomatoes; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 large leaves)*; 2 cups (8 oz, 225 g) grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozzarella); 1/2 cup (120 ml) mayonnaise; 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco); Freshly ground black pepper

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Here's one of the best loved recipes on the site—tomato pie! Perfect at the peak of summer tomato season.

One of the great things about going on vacation is I get to hang out with my friends, and sometimes meet their friends, who sometimes have OMG-this-is-so-GOOD dishes that they bring over. This tomato pie recipe is a result of one of these encounters.

The first time I heard of it ("tomato pie", hmm, oooookaaaay) my brain suffered a little cognitive dissonance (never heard those two words, tomato and pie, joined at the hip like that before). Seconds after taking a bite however, I was begging for the recipe.

Tomato Pie with a Slice Lifted on a Pie Knife — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

A Good Way To Use Up Garden Tomatoes

It's a savory pie, not sweet, filled with fresh garden tomatoes, sprinkled with basil, and held together with a mixture of mayonnaise and shredded cheese. The egg in the mayo acts as a binder to help hold the filling in place.

Many thanks to Diane Connolly (aka Lady Di) who graciously wrote it out on some Post-It notes for me at the dinner table. It is the first thing I cooked when I got back home. Think pizza meets cheesy bread and they make-out in a pie crust.

The recipe lends itself to estimates. Handfuls of this, handfuls of that. I measured, but you could eyeball it and it would still work out. Feel free to change the cheeses around, play with the spices. I made a homemade pie crust, but for this recipe a good quality prepared crust would work fine.

You could also bulk it up a bit more with a cup or so of fresh corn, or some small diced eggplant that has been lightly browned on the stovetop first.

1:36

Watch How to Make Tomato Pie

Use Up Fresh Tomatoes

Best Tomato Pie

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 60 mins

Total Time 75 mins

Servings 6 servings

Yield 1 pie

If you want to take this recipe up a notch, you can caramelize the onions while prepping the other ingredients. If you do that, double the amount of onion.

This recipe calls for slicing fresh basil using a technique called chiffonade. To do this, stack the basil leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, starting at one end slice the "cigar" crosswise in thin slices.

1 (9-inch) pie shell (homemade or store-bought)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 4 large tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed of excess juice (approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes)
1/2 cup chopped yellow or red onion (about 1/3 onion)
1/4 cup sliced basil
2 cups (8 ounces/225 g) grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozzarella)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Frank's Hot Sauce or Tabasco, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Place the oven rack in the center of the oven.
Pre-bake the crust:

If you are using a store-bought pie shell, follow the directions on the package for pre-baking, or pre-bake it in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes (a little longer for a frozen pie shell), until lightly browned.

If you are using a homemade crust, press it into the pie plate and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove the plate from the freezer and press a sheet of aluminum foil into the crust to keep the sides of the pie crust from falling down as it cooks. Fill the pie with pie weights such as dry beans or rice to help hold the foil in place.

Pre-bake the homemade crust for 15 minutes, then remove the foil, use the tines of a fork to poke a few small holes in the bottom of the crust (for venting), and bake for 10 more minutes.

How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust
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Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Salt and drain the tomatoes:

Sprinkle the salt on the tomatoes and set them in a colander over a bowl to drain while you are pre-baking the crust.

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Layer pre-baked pie shell with onions, tomatoes, basil:

Spread the chopped onion over the bottom of your pre-baked pie crust shell.

Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes, using either paper towels, a clean dish towel, or a potato ricer.

Spread the drained chopped tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the sliced basil over the tomatoes.

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Make cheese mixture, spread over tomatoes:

In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.

Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Bake:

Place in the oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) until browned and bubbly, 25 to 45 minutes.

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
543	Calories
39g	Fat
35g	Carbs
13g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories	543
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 39g	50%
Saturated Fat 13g	66%
Cholesterol 43mg	14%
Sodium 613mg	27%
Total Carbohydrate 35g	13%
Dietary Fiber 3g	11%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 13g
Vitamin C 13mg	65%
Calcium 273mg	21%
Iron 2mg	11%
Potassium 328mg	7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.