Tomato Pie

We went to a baby shower a long time ago, and one of the featured food items was Tomato Pie. I am under the impression that it's a Philadelphia thing. My daughter (who was about 14 at the time) came home, found a recipe, and made it all by herself (SO PROUD). Then we never made it again.

I love the blog Simply Recipes as a resource for recipes -- and they had tomato pie featured recently. I made it last night, and it was a hit again. Using store bought crust was a huge time saver -- and while it takes a bit of investment to pre-bake the pie shell and get the pie done, it is certainly worth the effort and a great summer Sunday meal!

Tomato Pie
INGREDIENTS
1 9-inch pie shell
1 small onion chopped
3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sliced basil
2 cups  grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozzarella) I used Gruyere and Mozarella -- yum!
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)
Freshly ground black pepper

Pre-bake pie shell to a light brown
Put the chopped tomatoes in a colander with salt while shell bakes, when you are ready to use them, blot with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible
Layer onions, then tomatoes, then basil in the pie shell
Combine cheese, mayo, and hot sauce in a medium bowl -- mix thoroughly. Add enough mayo to make the combination somewhat spreadable.
Spread cheese combo over pie contents
Bake 350 degrees until lightly brown and bubbly (I started the timer at 25 minutes, then checked every 5 or so until it looked done -- I think it took about 40 minutes total)