Summer  Tomato  Pie

I am in love with this pie. But the tomatoes, basil, cheese and biscuit crust really have a love affair of their own in this recipe. I make this pie twice in the Summer for brunch. Once for just my husband and I, and the other time is usually for family or friends.

Makes 8 servings

For the biscuit crust
1 stick of butter (cold)
3/4 to 1 cup of milk
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of herbes de provence (found in the spice aisle)

For the filling
2 lbs of roma tomatoes (firm)
1 teaspoon of herbes de provence (found in the spice aisle)
2 tablespoons of fresh basil (sliced thinly)
1 scallion (green part only and sliced thinly)
2 cups of aged white cheddar or gruyere cheese
1/4 cup of mayo
Salt
Black pepper
2 tablespoons of butter (melted)

Let's start off with the biscuit crust. The crust is perfection in this recipe and is actually quite similar to the recipe for my buttermilk biscuits. In a large bowl add in the flour, baking powder, salt and herbes de provence.

Whenever making a pie crust it is extremely important that the butter and the dough remains cold. Remove the butter from the fridge and chop it into small 1/2 inch cubes. Add it into the bowl and break up the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingertips. As you break up the butter it will begin to mix in with the dry ingredients.

Grab the milk from the fridge and add in a few tablespoons at a time to the bowl. Gently gather the mixture with your hands. The goal here is NOT to mix the dough but to bring the mixture together gently.

Add in some more milk bringing the dough together with your fingertips. You can begin to see and feel the transformation. The dough should be coming together but you don't want it too wet.

Place the mixture onto a floured surface. The dough should be able to hold together and it is okay if there is a few loose crumbles. Gather the dough and any loose crumbles into a ball with your hands.

With your palm placed in the center of the dough ball gently press down. Then gather the dough from the top folding it over towards you pressing down again. Gather the dough into a ball again and repeat this process one more time. We have gently kneaded the dough without over mixing it.

Gather the dough into a ball again and slice it into 2 pieces. Place both in the fridge covered with plastic wrap until you are ready to use it. I like to make the dough the night before.

Now let's work on the tomatoes. You can choose to remove the skin for this next step or you can leave it on. When I first posted this recipe I had a bit more time on my hands. To me it is just a matter of preference. Either way you want to remove the seeds and as much tomato juice as you can. Cut an X into the bottom of each tomato. The cut should NOT be deep. We only want to break the skin. We are going to quickly blanche the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds.

Remove the tomatoes and place them into a bowl of ice water for about a minute then drain them on a paper towel.

The tomatoes now can be easily peeled. After you have peeled the tomatoes cut off the top and gently remove the seeds with your index finger.

After the seeds have been removed cut the tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices and set them aside in a large bowl.

These are my organic basil plants which grow in my backyard. I cook with a lot of basil in the Summer so it only made sense for me to grow my own plants. Basil can be a little pricey at the grocery store especially if you only need a few leaves. And basil doesn't retain it's freshness very long either so if you like basil or if you find yourself cooking with it a lot I would invest in a hydroponic basil plant. I bought mine at Whole Foods for $1.99 a few months ago and it has sprouted into a beautiful plant.

Slice the basil into thin ribbons along with the scallion (green parts only). Place them both into a small bowl and set it aside.

Grate the cheese and set it aside. And in another small bowl mix the mayo and herbes de provence together setting it aside as well.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grab one of the 2 biscuit dough crusts that we set aside in the fridge earlier. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 9 inches in diameter.

Place the dough into an ungreased pie plate. Now you can assemble the pie. Take 1/2 of the sliced tomatoes and line the bottom of the pie.

Next take 1/2 of the sliced basil and scallion mixture and sprinkle it over the top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on the tomatoes as well. Next sprinkle 1/2 of the grated cheese. Your first layer is done.

Now for the 2nd layer. Place the remaining tomatoes on top of the cheese, then the rest of the basil and scallion, and another sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Now add small dollops of the herb mayo all over the pie. As the pie bakes the mayo will melt down over the tomatoes creating a very unique rich flavor. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Now you can grab the other biscuit dough crust from the fridge. Roll it out and place it on top of the pie. Crimp the edges together all the way around. Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and spread it over the top of the pie.

Place the pie on a baking sheet and put it in a 400 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until the top of the pie has browned nicely. Remove it from the oven and let it sit on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour.

The pie will be warm, bursting with flavor and truly out of this world...bon appetit!

Music: Ascent by Mona Wonderlick