basil

Fresh Tomato & Basil Pie

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This Fresh Tomato & Basil Pie recipe is adapted from a friend’s pie, which she brought to dinner one night before she and her family moved away.  Sad to see her go but glad she shared the recipe with me.

I have always wanted to make tomato pie and this one is scrumptious!  Especially with the addition of the fresh basil.  And the crust?  So flaky and delicious, if I do say so myself.  I promise to share that in another post.

So we put in a garden this year–with the help of friends who are great at growing stuff, and canning, and freezing, and  drying, etc. Our tomatoes and basil have gone crazy!  I even made fried green tomatoes the other night. Never tried those?  Well, then that is something else I need to share later.

Fresh Tomato & Basil Pie
A scrumptious way to use fresh produce from your garden.
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Ingredients
  1. Pastry for 1-crust 9 inch pie
  2. 2 T. evaporated milk
  3. 4 cups sliced, firm ripe tomatoes
  4. 1 t. salt
  5. 1/8 t. black pepper
  6. 1 T. fresh basil, finely chopped
  7. 1/3 c. mayonnaise
  8. 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded
  9. 1 large clove garlic, smashed and minced
  10. whole fresh basil leaves for garnish (opt.)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Line pie plate with pastry. Flute the edges. Brush shell with evaporated milk.
  3. Bake shell for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350.
  4. Fill baked shell with layered, sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped basil.
  5. Combine mayonnaise, Parmesan, and garlic and spread over the tomatoes.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for approx 45 minutes, or until pie is golden brown.
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Bruschetta

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Though this simple but satisfying snacketizer is best served with homegrown tomatoes, store-bought and out of season tomatoes still produce good results.  I don’t have any amounts listed….hope that’s copacetic with you.  Just adjust the amounts according to what YOU like.

Ingredients:
fresh tomatoes, diced
onion, diced (optional…I don’t like raw onion so I leave it out)
basil (fresh or dried)
garlic powder
salt
pepper
olive oil
red wine vinegar
baguettes, sliced 1/2-3/4″ thick
fresh parmesan cheese, grated

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place baguette slices on cookie sheet.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until edges are golden and middles feel like they’re starting to get crunchy.
2.  In a bowl, combine tomatoes and onions.  Add your basil (see notes below), garlic powder, and salt to taste (don’t over salt…you can always add more later).  Drizzle a little olive oil over it.  Then sprinkle on the red wine vinegar. Stir to combine.

How I Like to Eat It:
Okay….here we go.  Grab a toasted baguette slice.  Sprinkle on the grated cheese that I insisted you grate by hand.  Spoon the tomato mixture on top (yes, it is messy and you had better be doing this over a plate).  Sprinkle a little bit of salt over the top.  Now, take a crunchy bite and enjoy!

Notes:

    • Tomatoes–use whatever tomatoes look the most ripe and tasty.  
    • Basil–if you have fresh that’s great…simply chiffonade to get the right amount (use more with fresh).  If using dry, sprinkle in a bit at a time until you get the right taste.  Here’s a video on how to chiffonade fresh basil:

  • Garlic Powder–yes, you can use fresh, but I don’t like to bite into raw garlic so I use the powder. 
  • Olive Oil–I just put in enough so that I can tell each piece of tomato is bathed but not swimming in it.
  • Red Wine Vinegar–I love this!  I put in more vinegar than oil, but I still don’t have the whole thing swimming in it.
  • Baguettes–if you can help it, don’t buy the ones that are really flat on top.  When you slice it, you are creating a little bread plate for your tomatoes so a flat baguette will make for a narrow plate.  Find the roundest ones you can.
  • Parmesan Cheese–I really must insist <wink> that you buy the lovely triangular cheese and grate it on the large holes using your cheese grater.  The powdered stuff in a can will NOT give you the same tasty results.
Source:  Honestly, I have no idea.  I’ve been making this for years!  But I have no idea where I got it from.
 
Originally posted on April 15, 2013.

Fresh Basil

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Have you ever grown your own fresh Basil? There is something so fulfilling and productive about going outside and picking your own food.  This is the closest I have gotten to doing that in over a decade.

We had fresh Caprese Salad the other night for supper–one of our favorite summer dishes. Oh my goodness, it smelled so fresh and tasted so delicious.  

Not quite sure how my Basil fared the hail storm yesterday.  We will just have to wait and see…