Southern Tomato Pie Recipe

A nicely made Southern tomato pie accommodates little greater than recent plump tomatoes, a mix of cheese, mayonnaise (it’s gotta be Duke’s), and chopped recent herbs akin to basil. Thoughtfully layered and baked in a flaky crust till bubbly, it’s the essence of an excellent, sizzling summer time. Like several Southern tomato pie value its salt, this recipe beautifully showcases the truth that tomatoes and mayo are excellent companions.

Savory tomato pies have roots within the South not less than way back to the 1830s, after they typically included a meat, like beef or mutton, that was ultimately omitted of most recipes. There are even candy variations of tomato pie, although much less frequent, that includes under-ripe inexperienced tomatoes tossed with butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a dessert that is considerably just like apple pie. In accordance with southern meals historian David Shields’ Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine, you discover savory tomato pie all through the Carolinas, particularly the flat coastal areas of the low nation. It’s a filling option to take advantage of out of summer time’s bounty of tomatoes.

This traditional model of Southern tomato pie we’re sharing right here has a sure retro really feel, like one thing you would be delighted to search out alongside the inexperienced bean casserole and cheese balls at a Nineteen Fifties potluck. Brilliant and candy tomatoes are seasoned and bathed with mayo and a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses to make a humble pie that’s the right important course for an end-of-summer supper or leisurely weekend brunch. Simply add a easy inexperienced salad to finish the meal. 

Whereas this tomato pie is comparatively simple to make, there are a number of challenges to concentrate on. Juicy ripe tomatoes can rapidly flip the flaky pie crust soggy, and the mayonnaise and cheese filling must be correctly seasoned to enrich the tomatoes’ recent, candy taste. We enlisted the assistance of recipe developer Marrianne Williams at our Birmingham, Alabama take a look at kitchen to develop a juicy, wealthy Southern tomato pie recipe that prevented these frequent pitfalls. Learn on for her ideas and to get the complete recipe for Southern tomato pie.

Ideas for the Finest Southern Tomato Pie

Select ripe, in-season tomatoes. As clichéd as it could sound, this pie actually is a celebration of summer time’s tomato bounty. We wish to reinforce that to make an ideal tomato pie, it is advisable begin with recent, in-season tomatoes. Skip these unhappy plastic-packed grocery store tomatoes and maintain out for peak summer time tomatoes out of your native farmers market and even your personal yard. A bigger heirloom selection akin to Brandywine or Amana orange will work nicely right here. 

Salt and drain the tomatoes earlier than baking. We at Critical Eats firmly consider that salt can improve your tomatoes, and this tomato pie is a first-rate instance of when it’s value taking the extra time to salt your tomatoes earlier than utilizing them within the pie.

As Kenji factors out in his panzanella salad recipe, salting the tomatoes attracts liquid out of them by the method of osmosis—that’s, the tendency of a liquid (tomato juice) emigrate throughout a membrane (the tomato’s cell partitions) from an space of low solute focus (throughout the cells) to an space of excessive solute focus (exterior of the cells). Merely put, salt attracts out extra liquid, which concentrates the tomatoes’ taste. Drawing out extra moisture additionally ensures that the pie retains a creamy, sliceable texture and does not get soggy. Ensure to flip the tomatoes often and to pat them completely dry earlier than layering into the pie.

Par-bake the crust earlier than filling the pie. We blind bake the pie shell earlier than filling for a similar cause we take the time to salt the tomatoes—it mitigates the danger of a soggy pie backside. Pre-baking the formed however empty pie dough additionally ensures that the filling is bubbly and sizzling on the similar time the crust turns crisp and golden. After we initially examined baking the pie with out pre-baking the crust, the filling cooked earlier than the pie dough totally baked. To ensure the pie dough stays flat and easy as soon as baked, don’t neglect to flippantly prick the underside of the pie shell earlier than lining it with aluminum foil and pie weights. Pricking the pie shell is named “docking” the dough; the small holes permit extra steam to flee from the dough because it bakes, which prevents air bubbles from forming and helps the dough bake extra evenly.

Use a mix of three cheeses within the filling. To create a wealthy, cohesive and flavorful filling, Williams discovered {that a} mixture of three cheeses labored finest. The aged white cheddar is nutty, the yellow cheddar is sharp, and the mozzarella cheese helps bind every thing collectively right into a cohesive combination as soon as melted.

Stick to Duke’s mayo if potential. We don’t normally name out a particular brand of mayonnaise in a recipe, however this thick and tangy Southern mayo actually is the perfect pairing with tomatoes, in keeping with Williams and our numerous testers who tasted this pie. If it’s a Southern tomato pie, it’s gotta have Duke’s in it. However, if Duke’s isn’t an possibility the place you reside, be happy to sub in your most popular mayo model. A pinch of garlic powder and a little bit of Dijon improve the filling’s savory, tangy taste, and you may at all times use a bit extra of every within the recipe in case you’re going with a much less tangy mayo than Duke’s.

Wait earlier than slicing into the pie. When this savory cheese pie comes out of the oven, it’s tempting to slice into it instantly when piping sizzling and gooey, however maintain off. If you happen to reduce into the pie whereas it’s nonetheless too sizzling, you gained’t be serving pie slices, however slightly molten cheese and tomato blobs. We advocate ready not less than an hour earlier than slicing. Even after sitting for an hour on the counter, the pie will nonetheless have a heat, comfortable cheese filling, however will probably be each agency sufficient to carry its form when sliced and funky sufficient to take pleasure in with out burning the roof of your mouth.