Another Winner Dinner, Tomato Pie

I'm a practical cook who loves great flavor but doesn't want to purchase expensive one time ingredients.  When I can, I prefer to use what I have on hand.  I find that my substitutions still make for a great recipe but also cheaper.  The original recipe called for Manchego cheese which was $8 for a sliver of a slice and if you can find them, heirloom tomatoes can be $5 a pound.  This would have been over $18 for these two ingredients alone and no tomato pie would be worth that.  Instead I used regular tomatoes which I got for .88 cents a pound and instead of manchego I used Parmesan and Cheddar which I always have on hand.  If you don't use what you have on hand or give the original a try.  If you have tomatoes in your garden this is a great way to use them up, which is what I did when I made this for the second time (pictured below).  I also use bread crumbs that I freeze from leftover stale french bread but if you don’t have homemade bread crumbs use panko or canned. As for the fresh herbs, if you don’t have what it calls for use less or omit some. I’ve omitted the parsley and have used less of others because buying a bunch of herbs for a tablespoon can also be pricy and even with less it still tasted great.  Although I can't compare it to the original mine was a 4+ out of 5 stars.  Another plus was it is a vegetarian meal which I would like to do once a week. 

Next time I think I will add some crumbled bacon on top because a BLT pie sounds great.  You know how it is, anything is better with bacon.

The original recipe came from this months Food Network Magazine Vol.4#6, Jul/Aug 2011 or you can find it here.  This is my version.

TOMATO TOPPED ONION PIE

Time: 2 hour, 25 min

Crust:
1 C. flour
¾ C. cornmeal

¾ t. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cubed
3 T. Parmesan, grated
4 T. ice water
Caramelize:
1 onion, sliced, caramelized
1 T. oil
Filling, mix:
¾ C. mozzarella, shredded
½ C. cheddar, shredded
¼ C. Parmesan, shredded
¼ C. mayonnaise
3 T. bread crumbs (homemade or panko)
2 T. fresh chives, chopped
2 T. fresh basil (16 leaves), chopped
1 T. fresh lemon (or regular) thyme (8 1" sprigs)
1 T. fresh parsley, chopped
¼ t.. Kosher salt
¼ t. coarse black pepper
Topping:
2 ¼ lbs. (5-6 large) tomatoes, cored, thinly sliced
1 t. Kosher salt
-Drizzle of EVOO

Crust: Pulse the flour, cornmeal and salt in a food processor. Cube butter and add along with Parmesan. Pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with pea size bits of butter. Drizzle in the water and pulse until dough comes together; add 1 more tablespoon of water if necessary in order to combine. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, pat into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. Meanwhile caramelize onions, slice tomatoes for topping and mix filling.

Caramelize: While pie dough is resting, slice onions, caramelize for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and let cool.

Topping: While pie crust is baking, slice tomatoes, place in a colander and sprinkle with the Kosher salt. Let drain, tossing gently every so often for 30 minutes.

Filling: In a large bowl mix the filling ingredients in order given along with cooled onions. Refrigerate.

Crust: Remove dough from refrigerator, place disk between two sheets of wax paper and roll into a 13" round. Roll dough onto rolling pin and transfer to a deep 9" pie plate. Fold under the hanging edges and crimp with your two thumbs or a fork if you prefer. Poke holes in bottom of crust with fork. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the crust with foil, shinny side down, crimping around sides of pie, fill with pie weights or beans. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Bake another 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Assembly: Increase oven to 375°F. Fill cool pie shell with filling mixture, top with sliced tomatoes, overlapping and stacking to fit. Drizzle with EVOO. Bake another 50 minutes.

Do Ahead:  Caramelize the onions. Make the dough and if you like form the crust into the pie shell. Refrigerate.

Variation: Try topped with crumbled bacon.