Tomato Pie

It's late July and we’ve moved into the hot, praying-for-rain, beetles-eating-roses part of the year. There are precious few things I love about summer, so I did make a list to remind myself...

Picking strawberries, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, figs Floating in the river Turning off the alarm clock for a couple months Hammock & book Baking with berries
BLTs with fresh tomatoes Fireworks

Drought-tolerant perennials Lightning bugs Corn on the cob Sunsets at the river Warm peaches Lilly Pulitzer prints

Watermelon Homemade ice cream Zinnias Docktails Picking steamed crabs

Paddleboarding Hiking in the mountains Tomato Pie

Wait. Tomato... pie? Like a dessert? No, ma'am. (I'm southern enough to use ma'am but not southern enough to grow up eating tomato pie. (My mom is from Oklahoma and my hometown in Virginia changed hands over 70 times during the Civil War). If you don't like tomatoes you may move right along because you probably won't like tomato pie, but if you do like summer-ripe tomatoes and cheese and fresh basil then consider making this.

Tomato Pie

(In typical Anne fashion I am philosophically somewhere in the middle... this time between Paula and Bobby Deen).

Ingredients 1 frozen deep-dish pie crust 1/2 cup mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
4 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup light mayonnaise 2-4 shakes hot sauce 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line crust with foil and cover bottom with pie weights or dried beans. Bake crust until edges are lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Remove foil and weights. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Sprinkle 1/4 cup mozzarella evenly on the bottom of the cooled crust; top with the tomato slices, overlapping to fit. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the salt and top with the basil. Combine the mayo, hot sauce and the remaining cheese in a medium bowl until blended; spread over the tomatoes, almost to the crust. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, until the filling is hot and the top is browned and bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.

Hope you're embracing summer!