Arrrgh!!!

This is an absolutely perfect recipe for when the tomatoes are warm and ripe. Plant some tomatoes now, and surround them with some basil, and you can grow some of the ingredients in your own garden!

Farmer’s Tomato Pie

30 minutes preparation
32 minutes baking
10 minutes stand time

1 piecrust
1 1/3 cups shredded Italian blend cheese (5 ½ oz.)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Fine dry breadcrumbs
2 lbs. Ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
1 cup Cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
½ tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup loosely packed small basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pie crust

Roll out a prepared piecrust to a twelve-inch circle. Place in a 9” quiche pan or a 9” pie pan, and trim. If using a pie pan, crimp the edges. Line the unpricked pastry with TWO thicknesses of foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 4-5 minutes, until set and dry. Remove from the oven.

Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees.

Filling

Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese evenly over baked shell.
Sprinkle garlic over cheese.
Sprinkle 2 tsp. Breadcrumbs over garlic and cheese
Top with 1/3 of the tomato wedges and 1/3 of the cherry tomatoes

Sprinkle ½ cup cheese
Sprinkle 2 tsp of the dry breadcrumbs
Top with 3 of the tomato wedges and 1/3 of the cherry tomatoes

Repeat last set of instructions once more and then sprinkle with salt.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and tomatoes are just beginning to brown.

Remove to wire rack
Sprinkle with basil and let stand for 10 minutes