>What did you make?
Homemade Tomato and Onion Pie
>How did you make it?
After seeing a couple recipes online, I decided to make a version based on aspects from all of them.
I started off with making a basic pie crust (some flour, a stick of butter, salt, ice water) then chilling it for a bit of time before putting it in the pie pan. Then I prebaked the crust for about 5 minutes to try and crisp it up slightly.
I cut up some tomatoes into somewhat thin slices and laid them in a shingled pattern as best as I could in the crust. Then I seasoned it with salt and pepper. I chopped up some fresh basil and sprinkled it onto the tomatoes.
While the pie dough was chilling, I had sautéed some sweet Vidalia onion in some olive oil. I put these on top of the tomatoes and basil.
I then made a mixture of mayonnaise and shredded sharp cheddar cheese grated by hand of course . This was then spread over the top of the pie to the very edges of the crust.
After baking it in the oven for about 45 minutes, the top was browned and golden, which meant the pie was done.
Overall, the pie came out pretty well. It tasted flavorful and was pretty filling. Even though it had no mozzarella, it kind of smelled and tasted similar to a caprese salad/sandwich. There was a lot of liquid though, and I imagine this could be due to several factors, one of which being how juicy the tomatoes I happen to use are. Because of how much there was, the slice of pie couldn't really hold much of its shape and would begin falling apart when lifted from the pan and put on the plate. This affected presentation, not the taste, and because I have never made a tomato pie, this could be how they are supposed to look sometimes and I wouldn't really know. But part of the crust remained crispy, so the pie was not totally flooded with tomato juice and fat from the cheese and whatnot. And it still looked quite good even when a bit messy on the plate.
I also had some trouble making the crust. For some reason, it didn't seem like there was enough crust to go over the edge of the pan and create that edging pies need. Rolling it out any more than I had would make the crust paper thin. It even started sliding down the side of the pie pan as I prebaked it, so that was sort of an unwelcome development. I have only made homemade pie crust a few times, so I will have to think about what I could have done better.
Overall, I recommend trying a tomato pie recipe, and I will make it again someday.