Summer is almost over and fall is close to being in full swing. You know what that means – pumpkin everything, soups and stews and slow cooker recipes will be on the rise soon. I just couldn’t let summer end though without celebrating the end of season tomato bounty.

We have been getting bags full of various tomatoes (dozens of varieties actually!) all summer long from our local CSA. There was no shortage of panzanella and caprese salads in our house this summer.  As summer has been coming to a close the tomatoes are piling up and I have begun making soup and sauce from them to freeze. Pulling a taste of fresh summer tomatoes out of the freezer in the dead of winter is a nice treat.

When I lived in the South my friend’s mother made tomato pies and she would show up to school with a slice for lunch. One weekend I stayed at their house for a sleepover and she showed me how she made them. Of course I didn’t write anything down (I was just excited to get my hands dirty making pie crust!) but I knew what went in at least.

As I chopped up the latest batch of multicolored tomatoes I decided they needed to go into a pie. I cheated and used a premade crust (shocking!) but feel free to dig in and make it from scratch. As you can see I was playing around with different crust edge patterns. I wasn’t planning on taking pictures or blogging about it at all but as I worked I had such fond memories of tomato pie and decided it should be shared with my readers.

Tomato Pie

1 Pie crust
½ cup onion
3 cups tomatoes, diced and gently squeezed to remove excess juice
6-8 fresh basil leaves
2.5 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack and Fontina)
½ cup real mayonnaise
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1. Place tomatoes in colander with a sprinkle of salt and let drain for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Blind bake pie shell for 10-15 minutes and remove from oven.
4. Finely dice onion and place on the bottom of the pie crust, set aside.
5. In a small bowl, combine cheese, mayonnaise, garlic powder and black pepper until mixed well. It will form a “ball”.
6. Place tomatoes and chopped basil in pie plate. Spread cheese mixture over the entire pie covering it completely.
7. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the cheese topping is brown and bubbly. Let cool before serving.