I published Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook 12 years ago, which seems like a lifetime. I have published two more books since then, put up countless posts here and started a new Substack newsletter, Serves You Right. As a food writer with a lot of balls in the air, I am always looking to the next recipe, so I sometimes forget about the ones I have already published. Well, not forget I suppose, just move on. But occasionally a recipe just floats back into your consciousness. I have seen a ton of posts this year on social media about classic Southern tomato pie, often with folks acting like they have discovered some long lost secret recipe (as if). And it reminded me of my favorite version – this one, full of the flavors of classic pimento cheese. So I decided I would post it here, as a reminder to me and for you.
I include a recipe for a homemade crust, but I don’t judge if you use a storebought. Just make sure your tomatoes are beautifully ripe and local. Salting them beforehand pulls out some of the liquid (you’ll see it on the paper towels) so the finished pie isn’t soggy. Spread the mayonnaise and cheese mixture all the way across the top right to the edges to seal in the tomatoes. This may become your favorite version of tomato pie too!
Ingredients
- For the Crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sugar
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 to 4 Tablespoons ice water
- For the Tomato Pie
3 large tomatoes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 green onions, white and palest green parts only, finely sliced
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos, rinsed and drained
1½ cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
¾ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
1 garlic clove
Directions
- For the Crust
- Put the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse a few times to combine. Drop in the small pieces of cold butter and pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly, but some minute pieces of butter are still visible. Sprinkle the ice water over, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse to combine. When the pastry dough just comes together, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a disk about ¾-inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling.
- When ready to bake the crust, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and place the pastry disk on a lightly floured work surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry to a round about 14 inches in diameter, large enough to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Carefully drape the pastry over the rolling pin and transfer it to the pie dish. Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pie dish.
- Cover the pastry shell with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or ceramic pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. Remove the paper and weights and set the pie crust aside to cool.
- For the Tomato Pie
- Cut the ends off the tomatoes and discard, then slice them about ½ inch thick. Lay the tomato slices on a double layer of paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt. Let the tomatoes sit for at least an hour, turning them over after 30 minutes and salting the opposite sides. Sprinkle the second side with black pepper as well.
- When the crust has completely cooled, layer half the tomato slices over the bottom. Sprinkle the green onions, parsley, and half of the pimentos over the tomatoes, then sprinkle ½ cup of the grated cheddar cheese over the top. Layer the remaining tomatoes on top.
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