Oak Park Tomato Pie

Oak Park Tomato Pie

I’m calling this pastry an “Oak Park tomato pie” to distinguish it from East Coast tomato bread-type sheet pizza preparations (currently being researched by an LTH scholar).

I have never had this particular dish before, but I'm sure it's been done. The idea for making it occurred to me when I returned home last night around 10:00 PM and had the following conversation with my daughter, Josie.

JOSIE: I want to make a peach cobbler.

ME: No peaches, but we have a bunch of heirloom tomatoes. Why don’t you make a tomato pie?

JOSIE: Hmmm

ME: I’ll see if I can find a recipe.

JOSIE: I don’t need one.

And she didn’t. She sliced a bunch of tomatoes, layered them with some cheese and fresh basil, made a crust and…



…bada bing.

I like the way she decorated it, with a cut-out ‘mater on top. That kind of attention to detail is admirable.



Inside, it was lush and gorgeous, the red and yellow shreds of fruit, the tender leaves, a savory snack, a smashing mouthful of umami, crunch and freshness..



Super simple, very delicious, and an excellent deployment of too many tomatoes and extraordinarily fragrant herbs.

Hammond

Fascinating, I empirically recognize tomatoes as fruit but I am pretty darn sure I would have never in my life thought to make a pie out of them.

At the end of the season last year, I put together a sweet green tomato/apple pie - I wish I could remember where I found the recipe, but there are a number out there if you do a websearch. It was very good - the green tomatoes have that particular lemony tartness that makes a good pie fruit.

I've seen pictures of you Dave, no way that's your daughter...too good looking to be associated with you. She's adopted right?

Anywho curious, how is the pie next day out of the fridge? Oh wait...forgot you're Dave.

*also need to know if crust is just on top or both under and over?*

Sundaysous wrote:*also need to know if crust is just on top or both under and over?*

Under and over.

I make a tomato tarte tatin that is very nice - cut tomatoes in half, scoop out excess seeds. Put face up in the bottom of a skillet that has been brushed with olive oil, cook until they begin to caramelize but do not burn. put dollops of pesto on top of them and smooth it if you can to make a thin layer(best if made with extra garlic) strew some dry couscous over the top (helps to absorb too much liquid) and top with a sheet of puff pastry (curl edges around skillet decoratively, poke a few holes for steam to escape). Bake at 400 until pastry is golden and crispy. Let cool, invert onto a plate. Serve cold or at room temperature with a rose wine from Provence. MMMM heaven.

Another recipe for tomato pie, courtesy of Martha Bayne's "farewell" post:

http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/food/200 ... /#comments

I had never heard of tomato pie until I came across this recipe on the Leite's Culinaria website a few months ago and had to try it. It was one of my favorite dishes this summer and was so easy to put together.