Tomatoes

This to me is one of the best recipes for tomato pie I have ever eaten. If you've never had tomato pie you need to make this recipe and see what you think.   For Your Tomato Pie You Will Need

1. 4 Large Vine Ripe Tomatoes Sliced Thin

2. Fresh Basil Chopped up fine.

3. 1/2 Cup Of Chopped Green Onion including the tops.

4. 1 9 Inch Pre Cooked Deep Dish Pie Shell.

5. 1 Cup Of Grated Mozzarella.

6. 1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese Grated

7. 1 Cup Of Dukes Mayonnaise. If you can't get Dukes use Kraft.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Place your tomato slices in a colander salt and set in the sink for 10 minutes.

Then you want to layer the tomato slices, chopped basil and the onion in the pre baked pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the cheeses and mayonnaise in a bowl together well and spread on top of the tomato slices and bake for 30 minutes and until it is lightly brown. Cut into slices and serve while warm. You can if you wish add a cup of ricotta cheese in the layers of the pie as you are putting your layers together. I guarantee you that you will have the best tomato pie you will ever eat.  

We've all become a little tomato crazy. When they're good they're just so darned good! Vine-ripened tomatoes are one of summer's chief garden stars. Most folks we know try to grow at least a few plants of their own, trading varieties and compliments among friends at the harvest. We've all come to cherish that just ripened rosy treasure, still warm from the sun, eaten out of hand, sprinkled with sea salt, or popping jewel colored minatures into our mouths like candy. An assortment of tomatoes with their various hues, thickly sliced and marinated with fresh herbs, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil just long enough to heighten the flavor of all three. Pure heaven.

Today with the renaissance of heirloom tomatoes in all their colors, shapes and sizes, tomato time in the garden and at the farmers market is more of a celebration than ever. Heirlooms are tomatoes that come from a pure strain of seed, never having been crossbred with any other variety. They are the true royals of the tomato family, never compromised to insure, long-distance travel, lengthy shelf life, or worst of all, refrigeration that kills the taste of a good tomato.

Its hard to get enough of the taste of tomatoes during their short season, so capture the intense flavor of these beauties at their full ripeness every way you can, in chutneys, juices, preserves, sorbets, sauces, and desserts while you can. Today there are terrific sun dried tomatoes available in oil, with spices or herbs in every form you can imagine, and fabulous italian canned tomatoes picked and preserved at their peak of freshness. We always have oven roasted tomatoes on hand to brighten a dish. Sometimes we roast them long and slow, sometimes more quickly at a higher tempature. Often we allow them to air dry for a day or two on a warm surface. A stash of sweet roasted tomatoes in the fridge is a luxury we always want. With so many options, its now easy to have the taste of summer all year long.  

8 Ripe Vine Ripened Tomatoes

Salt for draining the tomatoes

3 Tablespoons High Quality Olive Oil

1 Cup Fine Chopped Yellow Onion

10 Oz. Of Frozen Chopped Spinach thawed and all the liquid squeezed out by hand.

Salt , Black Pepper and Nutmeg

1/4 Cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese plus extra for topping tomatoes.

Finely Chopped Italian Parsley

1 Cup Of Ricotta Cheese

2 Large Egg Yolks 

1. Wash and dry the tomatoes and cut off the tops. Scoop out the seeds and centers of each tomato. Salt the cavities and set the tomatoes upside down on a paper towel to drain for 30 minutes.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the onions and cook until tender.

3. Chop the spinach and add it to the pan with the onions. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook over 10 min. for about 10 min.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5.  Beat the ricotta and and egg yolks together thoroughly. Add the spinach and onion mixture, 1/4 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

6. Gently blot the tomato cavities with a paper towel and set each tomato in a shallow lightly greased baking pan. Divide the stuffing mix among the tomatoes and then top each tomato with more of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese. Bake until the tops of the tomatoes are brown and bubbly. Serve at once.