Life-Changing Summer Tomato Pie with Cheddar Herb Crust.

This summer tomato pie is basically changing my life.

Hence the title!

And I’m here to tell you that I’ve been involved in another battle with pie crust and I surely didn’t win, but luckily we can judge this by taste. And then we win everything. This is like a fresh summer tomato pizza with a more flavorful crust and a creamy, cheesy topping.

It’s a real winner.

Much like this green bean salad, Lacy has been making a tomato pie for a million years. Or, eh, since 2010. Feels like a million years though!

And unlike the green bean salad, she had actually told me about the tomato pie year after year and tried to convince me to make it.

I don’t know why I wouldn’t get on board. 

Sometimes I’m like that with recipes. Something that I wasn’t interested in four years ago, something that didn’t have much appeal for me, ends becoming ALL I can think about. And it’s not like I hadn’t ever heard of a tomato pie, it just didn’t sound incredible to me. Until now.

Yes, file me under the worst. 

Here’s how I started my own tomato pie. There had to be a twist of course, a little bit of trashing up.

I did a sharp cheddar herb crust. Lots of sharp cheddar, basil, oregano, chives, rosemary. Oh and some garlic powder for fun! 

Layers of sliced tomatoes go on next – that’s nothing life-changing on its own. Then a mixture of more sharp cheddar, a little fontina, parmesan (triple cheese, what what!), mayo, herbs and breadcrumbs. Baked until hot and melty. 

YES.

As a note, there is a lot of mayo in this recipe. I was not a huge mayo fan until I fell in love with it via summer BLTs. I know some of you will be turned off because you hate mayo too. Unfortunately there isn’t a great replacement here. Even doing half yogurt will yield a watery result in the pie. The good news is that there is so much cheese in the top layer, some mayo-haters may not even know it’s mayo!

The bad news is that you can’t really swap it out for anything (I use avocado mayo, btw)… but maybe you could just top it with tons of cheese.

This is RIDICULOUS. There is so much flavor. More flavor than I ever expected. The filling is reminiscent of white pizza and it’s such a great dinner idea. 

Two people who I was unsure would enjoy it – my mom and Eddie – both loved it. Eddie actually ate an embarrassingly large triangle of the pie for dinner accidentally on purpose. I had made something else for dinner but set this out too and he couldn’t stop eating it. 

This pie is incredible when you serve it with a greens salad. It serves a bunch because it’s a heavy (oh-so cheesy!) dish. It’s very rich and indulgent and a little slice goes a long way, trust me. Eat your veggies with it, pour a glass of chilled wine and ENJOY the tomato bounty!

Summer Tomato Pie

Tomato Pie with a Cheddar Herb Crust

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

This summer tomato pie is the best dinner ever! Cheddar herb crust, ripe, juicy tomatoes and a cheesy, crunchy layer on top. It's irresistible.

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5 from 41 votes

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Ingredients

cheddar herb crust

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried chives
• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 cup ice cold water
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ⅔ cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

filling

• 4 to 5 large tomatoes, cut into ½ inch slices
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
• ½ cup freshly grated fontina cheese
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• ½ cup bread crumbs, panko or fine crumbs both work!
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Instructions 

cheddar herb crust

• Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse just until combined. Add in the garlic powder and herbs and pulse again. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar and water. Add the cold butter pieces and cheese into the food processor and pulse until small coarse crumbs remain. Sprinkle the water/egg mixture over the flour and pulse again until the dough comes together.
• Remove the dough with your hands and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Roll the pie crust out into a 12-inch circle (if you’re using a 9-inch pie plate). Fold it in half to pick it up and gently place it in the plate, unfolding as you go and trimming any excess off of the edges – you can also use a fork (or another decorative idea!) to press the edges down. I like to fold the edges over slightly and then use my finger and thumb to make a ripple in the crust.
• Cover the crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, just until it’s lightly baked and barely golden. Remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly.

filling

• Slice the tomatoes and place them on a towel. Sprinkle them with salt and cover them with another towel (or paper towefor 15 minutes. This will help remove some of the liquid so you don’t have a super watery pie.
• Layer the tomato slices in the pie crust - you will most likely have 2 or 3 layers. I wouldn’t do more than 3! Sprinkle the tomatoes with the sugar and black pepper.
• In a bowl, stir together the mayo, garlic and 3 cheeses. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and the chives. Stir to combine. Transfer the mayo layer over the tomatoes - spread it in a single layer. Top the layer with bread crumbs.
• Bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it’s golden on top. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. This is delicious served hot or cold! Keep leftovers in the fridge once they have cooled to room temp.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Author: How Sweet Eats

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I appreciate you so much!

Very very into all the savory pies now.