Thread: Main Dishes
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Old February 11, 2006   #3
lightt
Tomatovillian™
 
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Oak Hill, Virginia Z 6/7
Posts: 47
Default Tomato Pie

I've tried many tomato pie recipes and this is without question the absolute best!

Adapted from Morash's "The Victory Garden Fish and Vegetable Cookbook" (Knopf, 1993). from the Washington Post August 2005

For the pastry:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling:
About 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 or 3 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced thick and evenly
1 cup grated low-fat Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons basil, julienne
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Have ready an ungreased 9-inch pie plate or fluted quiche pan.

For the pastry: Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and, using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the mixture until it comes together as a smooth dough, with the butter well incorporated. Form the dough into a ball, flatten it slightly, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

On a lightly floured surface or between two pieces of wax paper, roll out the dough slightly larger than the pie plate or quiche pan and press the dough into the plate or pan. Pierce the bottom with the tines of a fork, cover loosely and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and pour ceramic pie weights or dried beans evenly on the foil. Bake for 8 minutes, then carefully remove the weights or beans and the foil, and bake for 2 minutes more. (At this point, the crust will not be fully baked.) Set aside to cool.

For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the bottom of the cooled pie shell with a thin, see-through coating of the mustard. Layer the tomato slices, Swiss cheese and herbs, seasoning each layer lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Spread the mozzarella and Parmesan evenly over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

My notes:

I put the sliced tomatoes on several layers of paper towels and pressed paper towels on top that I changed a few times to wick off some of the water.

Be careful timing wise as the various chilling stages adds an inordinate amount of time to make. I planned on having it for dinner Saturday night, made the dough and then read ALL of the directions. Ended up havng it the next day... There’s an hour of refer time and 40 minutes of baking so it might not be a very practical weeknight dinner.
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