08/23/2026
🍅🍅🍅It’s tomato season in the Hudson Valley! Gardens and farmers markets are abundant with slow ripened heirloom tomatoes and that means it’s time to make Summer Tomato Pie. It somehow feels like August when this fragrant, flavorful pie comes out of the oven. I hope you'll find time to make one for yourself and/or loved ones.
Below is the recipe I use, but it's very forgiving if you want to make changes, especially with the fresh herbs and cheese:
🍅VERY EASY SUMMER TOMATO PIE🍅
1 (9-inch) pie shell (I use frozen)
4-5 large ripe preferably heirloom tomatoes (you want 3 cups drained)
@ 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more or less to taste
1/2 cup chopped raw red or white onion or use 1 cup if caramelized
1/4 cup thinly sliced (chiffonade) sweet basil
1/4 cup curly parsley, Italian parsley, chives or any herbs you like -snipped into pieces
2 cups (8 ounces) grated cheese - any combination of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gruyere and/or Mozzarella. Save some to sprinkle on the bottom of the baked pie crust.
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon (or to tase) of hot sauce, I use Sriracha, but Tabasco is fine too.
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C) .
Pre-bake the pie crust for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and use the tines of a fork to poke a few small holes in the bottom of the crust for venting. Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes, remove and set aside.
While the crust is baking or do as pre-prep: Roughly chop and lightly salt the tomatoes into a bowl. Relocate the chopped tomatoes into a colander that sits over a bowl with room for the tomato juice to drain out. Move the tomatoes around with a wooden spoon or spatula pressing lightly to get out as much liquid as possible as you don’t want a juicy pie. The leftover liquid can be frozen for future use. You want about 3 cups of well drained tomatoes for the filing.
Sprinkle some of the grated cheese on the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust - this helps keep the bottom from getting soggy.
Caramelize the onions OR you can just layer them raw onto the bottom of the pie crust.
In a bowl combine the grated cheese, mayonnaise, hot sauce, and ground black pepper.
Spread the onions on top of the grated cheese on the pie bottom.
Spread the well drained chopped tomatoes over the onions.
Sprinkle the fresh herbs on top of the tomatoes.
Spread the cheese mixture evenly over over the top of your layers using a spatula.
Place the pie in the 350°F oven and bake until browned and a bit bubbly, 25 to 35 minutes (times vary because of ovens and pie density).
Cool for at least 15 minutes as it needs to gel a bit, but it’s best served warm and not as good cold. Optional: a little smoked paprika sprinkled on top or more fresh pepper. Enjoy!
