Cheesy Tomato Pie with Potato Crust
TOMATOES IN A SAVORY PIE…
Enjoying a slice of tomato pie might not be your idea of an ending to a meal but this pie is a main dish that is a must try if you love tomatoes, cheese and potatoes.
If you are a gardener planting and growing tomatoes is tops on your list. With proper tomato plant care you will likely be enjoying tomatoes all summer long.
It’s now that time of year where our gardens are over-flowing with tomatoes and many of us are struggling for ways to use them up.
Although many of us stick to the common tomato recipes such as tomato salsa, tomato sauce, pasta sauce etc. we often want to go above and beyond and try something new.
Cheesy Tomato Pie
You can easily stuff tomatoes and top with breadcrumbs but you can also take it a step further and create a tomato cheese pie.
That’s right pie recipes aren’t meant for sweet pies but also savory pies.
Red tomato pies are popular because they are savory and an easy dinner to whip up during the week or on a lazy Sunday.
Although there are many varieties and colours of tomatoes you can use just about any kind of tomato in this tomato and cheese potato crust pie.
Yes you read that right the crust for this savory pie is made from potatoes, yes potatoes.
Potatoes are a staple around this house and this year I have planted potatoes for the first time in the garden.
If you don’t have a huge space for a garden you can do what Katrina has done and grow potatoes in a pot which will yield you a nice crop of new potatoes. I am very excited to see how much of a haul we get.
I have already had some strawberries a cucumber and a few raspberries which are all new plants in my upgraded garden.
The zucchini, carrots, beans and peppers are coming along but because of the late start this year they probably won’t be ready for a while yet.
I’ve always been fortunate to get produce and fruits from friends which enables me to do some canning for over the winter months.
This year I really want to try canning carrots but they also do very well in the fridge as long as they are in an airtight container and you let the water out after a while.
Can you tell I love gardening!
Blind baking
Now for this Tomato Cheese Potato Crust Pie recipe we are going to be doing some blind baking.
What is blind baking?
Blind baking is where you place either ceramic beads or uncooked pulses or even rice on top of the pastry so it doesn’t rise and go puffy.
This way the crust stays in shape and doesn’t go soggy.
I always use pulses as we have them in the pantry and for this recipe I had some green split peas which did the trick.
If you don’t know what pulses are they are simply dry beans such as lentils.
How to make tomato pie
It’s easy and I’m going to show you today just how easy it is to transform your tomatoes and potatoes into a cheesy dish for your family tonight.
- Prep Time 25mins
- Cook Time 40-45
- Serves 6
- Oven temp for pie crust cook at 200oC/400oF
- Oven temp for cooking the pie filled 195oC/395oF
- PASTRY
- 1 cup grated raw potatoes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cold butter
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- PIE FILLING
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 1 cup strong cheese grated
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons dried herbs (oregano, basil, parsley)
- 1 Tomato thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1/2 cup flour for rolling
- To make the pastry combine the flour, salt and butter together until it forms a breadcrumb consistency.
- Grate raw potatoes and add to the mixture using your hands. Don’t use a mixer as it will get too gloopy and watery.
- Knead briefly until it comes together to form a ball and place in the fridge for 10 mins.
- Dust your surface liberally with flour.
- Roll out pastry to fit an 18inch flan tin or round pie dish.
- Place in dish, cut away any excess pastry from around the pie dish.
- Then take a piece of parchment paper and put it on top of the pastry and fill with the dry pulses. Make sure you cover the whole bottom of the pie dish.
- Now place in the oven for 10mins with the dry pulses. Oven temp for pie crust cook at 200oC/400oF
- Once 10mins is up take out the pulses from the pie dish and bake for another 5mins. Take out of the oven.
- Mix together 1/2 cup cheese with the cream cheese and spread onto the bottom of the pie crust.
- Now arrange the thin tomatoes over the cream cheese mixture.
- Finally combine the breadcrumbs, herbs and the rest of the cheese and sprinkle that on top.
- Place in the oven and cook until golden and bubbly. Oven temp for cooking the pie filled 195oC/395oF
This is a great cheesy tomato pie to enjoy as a meatless meal with a garden salad and an alternative to a heavy pie crust.
I sometimes use this potato dough recipe for my quiche too. It also makes an excellent tartlet for parties.
Well that’s it for this Sunday see you all next week with another delicious recipe.
~Nicky
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