Savory and satisfying, Southern Tomato Pie brings the smiles and why not? When you pile summer’s ripe, juicy tomatoes, fresh basil, mayo, and gooey cheddar cheese into a buttery, flaky piecrust, people feel hungry and happy fast. Easy, cheesy, and simple to prepare, it’s the best make-ahead party recipe I know. You bet it’s on my go-to spring-and-summer kitchen rotation.
What is Tomato Pie?
Tomato pie is a satisfying savory Southern dish, enjoyed as both a main course along with a salad and sides, or as part of a casual multiple-dishes gathering such as a potluck, tailgate, or covered dish meal. Like quiche, tomato pie’s savory pastry-based pie-like dish, tomato pie makes perfect picnic food, since it is served at room temperature and is easy-to-eat fork food. Look for a pastry crust, layers of tomatoes and cheese, basil, parsley and other herbs, and luscious layerings of mayo to bring it all together.
Where did this particular Tomato Pie Recipe Originate?
This Tomato Pie recipe comes from a superstar source, the renowned and beloved chef Ashley Christensen, who is a North Carolina native just like me, and whose restaurants in Raleigh keep people happy all day, all week, and all year long. They include Poole’s Diner; Beasley’s Chicken + Honey; Chuck‘s; Fox Liquor Bar; and Death & Taxes with a pizza restaurant in the works for 2019.
What Is Chef AC’s cuisine like?
I’ve been a fan of Chef Ashley Christensen since my first visit to her original restaurant, Poole’s Diner. but until her beautiful cookbook appeared, I would have had a time explaining her food. What a delight to get ahold of her cookbook, Poole’s: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner, published by Ten Speed Press in 2016, with handsome photos of the recipes, ingredients, people and places by Johnny Autry, and cool and useful graphics and design.
What’s to love about this book, Poole’s: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner?
I love having her basics: countertop creme fraiche; roasted tomatoes; stocks; vinaigrettes; deviled eggs; and pimento cheese.
On my list for cooler-weather cooking are buttermilk fried chicken with hot honey; short rib pot pie; lamb meatloaf with mushroom pan gravy, duck slick, a gorgeous take on chicken and dumplings, and sweet potato hummingbird cake.
But it’s summer right now and I’m happy making and making and keeping-on-making her version of Summer Tomato Pie.
What’s with the NYC Connection to Tomato Pie?
My first taste of this particular tomato pie came a year ago, and not here in North Carolina. Picture me in late April 2018 in New York City, where I traveled to attend the James Beard Media Awards Ceremony. Ashley Christensen joined the roster of James Beard Award-winning Chefs invited to contribute a signature dish to the evening’s menu.
Awarded Best Chef Southeast in 2014, she earned a 2018 nomination for the James Beard Foundation’s highest honor, JBF Outstanding Chef in the USA, awarded to a “… working chef in America whose career has set national industry standards and who has served as an inspiration to other food professionals.”
UPDATE: I wrote this post in Summer 2018. This year, my wish came true, and
Chef AC WON that big award of Best Chef in the USA, details HERE.
Although she did not win (in, she still has my vote and those of many people. She combines brilliance in both the culinary and the business side of the food and hospitality industry with her extraordinary dedication to community, philanthropy, and making food and cooking a blessing in the world. For many reasons, I see this richly deserved honor coming her way down the road.
What was it like to attend a James Beard Media Awards Dinner in NYC?
In a word? Magnificent! Above is the view from my chair, and what a delight to seat myself at this table in April 2018, after an abundance of tasty bites at the sparkly incredibly fun reception.
The event took place at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers in New York City, an extraordinary venue right on the Hudson River in Manhattan. Lots to share about that evening another time, but for now, it’s about Tomato Pie!
Who Was Cooking That JBF Feast?
The main courses served to us at the tables were from Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern in New York City, Chef Ashley Christensen of Raleigh NC, and Chef Hugo Ortega of H-Town Restaurant Group in Houston, Texas. You can see this talented trio on stage after the feast, receiving our wild applause in the photo on the right.
Hosting the evening brilliantly was the beautiful, witty, vivacious and in-charge Tamron Hall, who had everything she needed to wrangle the crowd and move the show along despite all the challenges of the schedule, the players and the rambunctious audience. She rocked it and no surprise she has a daytime talk show coming on ABC in 2019!
Ashley’s course came in the middle of dinner service, and it was Sunburst Tomato Tart with North Carolina Jumbo Lump Crab, Spicy Greens, and Sherry Vinaigrette.
We loved the plating, a rectangular dish sporting a wedge of Chef Ashley’s tomato pie alongside a a jazzy tangle of brightly-dressed salad greens, obscuring a surprise treat, a glorious little mountain of exquisite NC jumbo lump crabmeat. Delightfully delicious!
Selfie with Chef Ashley? Why yes indeed I did!
Next morning after that fabulous evening, I got a great surprise, running in to Chef Ashley Christensen at the hotel where we were both staying while in town for the JBF Media Awards. Swiftly I grabbed my phone for a selfie, while telling Chef AC how much I loved her Tomato Pie! I think you will too, which is why it’s time for this post to get cooking!
Tomatoes: To Peel or Not To Peel?
Peel those tomatoes! Or don’t: I’ve made tomato pie both ways, and while peeling makes this dish elegant and fancy, I have made it with cored and sliced tomatoes, with wonderful results. No trouble for me to adore tomato pies made with tomatoes as they come on the vine. Your choice.
The Contents of This Tomato Pie:
Tomato pie recipes call for stirring together mayo and a few other creamy ingredients, in this case including horseradish, dijon mustard, egg, milk and cream.
Chef Ashley loves fresh thyme in her tomato pie, and I’m a fool for basil aplenty. Use whatever herbs you love and or have on hand. I say you can’t overdo the herbs in this case.
Here’s my version almost ready for the oven. You start with tomatoes and end with the creamy mixture — get as many layers in between as you can. And don’t worry: this recipe wants to be wonderful, and you can adapt it to your wishes with great success.
Round or Square, Easy and Pleasing:
What a winner: Fancy servings for a luncheon, or make it in a square pan and serve up boxy-shaped pieces. It can be a hearty main course with big wedges, or part of a well-mixed-up menu where a good solid sliver is one of the many attractions.
Once you’re a member of the tomato pie fan club, it’s hard to stop with just one recipe. I’m now a collector of tomato pie recipes myself. Variations abound, major and minor; however, I’m open to possibilities.
I love every single one I’ve had. Here are three more recipes from around the web, ones worth keeping in mind if you’re looking for more ways to enjoy this brilliant combination of tomatoes, fresh herbs, and cheese.
- Simply Recipes Tomato Pie
- Southern Living’s Savory Tomato Cobbler
- Leite’s Culinaria Cherry Tomato Tart
If you’d like a beautifully simple side-dish to turn tomato pie into a meal, try this good green crowd-pleaser from my friend Chef Bill Smith: Leeks and Cabbage!
Ashley Christensen's Tomato Pie
Maybe somebody doesn't love tomato pie, but I have not yet come across that person. This is a Southern classic of the New Not Old variety, a brilliant dish that came into being in the post WWII South, when the need to grow large gardens and can the produce to fill the pantry against the winter chill began to change. It's a simple summer standard, perfect for lunch or dinner, take along to a party or picnic or put on the table for the family to enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 (9-inch deepdish) piecrust, baked and cooled
- 2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes
- Sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or another mustard
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (optional)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme; or a handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
- 8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bring a large deep pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat; and set a big bowl of ice water by the stove.
- Core the tomatoes and cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato.
- Carefully add tomatoes to the boiling water and leave for 45 seconds, to loosen their skins.
- Scoop out tomatoes and place in bowl of ice water till cool enough to handle; then peel.
- Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and set out on baking sheets; salt generously on both sides to release juice and enhance flavor; let stand 20 minutes.
- Place tomatoes in a colander over a bowl to drain off extra juice (use the juice in salads or soups)
- Make the custard by combining the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, milk, cream and herbs in a bowl and stirring with a whisk or a fork to mix well.
- To assemble the pie, scatter a little cheddar over the bottom of the baked piecrust.
- Add a layer of tomatoes over the cheese, overlapping tomatoes a bit as you go; top with pepper.
- Add a good sprinkling of cheese and about half the custardj, spreading to cover the tomatoes well.
- Add another layer of tomatoes; then remaining cheese, and the remaining custard.
- Place pie on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes; turn to bake evenly and continue cooking for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the pie is firm and nicely browned.
- Cool for 1 hour, or longer. Serve at room temperature.
- To keep, cover cooled pie well and refrigerate for 2 days; to reheat, place covered pie in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until gently warmed through.
Please share who is the manufacturer of the beautiful white dishes. Making the tomato pie tomorrow !
Thank you for sharing the receipe!
Linda Evans Flaishans