I’ve always wanted to make a tomato pie or tart. Particularly, one with the farm fresh cherry tomatoes during the peak of their season. But, I have a unique problem in using tomatoes at my home: F loves them. Loves them so much that he always makes sure he knows which bag they are in and that they are at the top, and then as soon as the groceries are in the car he grabs the cherry tomato container and eats them on the way home. He can finish a Costco size container of cherry tomatoes before we’re even in front of our house as he eats them like an addict, popping them in his mouth one after another.

One time we bought them right at the farm and as we were stuck in the traffic leaving Sauvie Island, he complained his mouth felt a bit muddy. But he still finished all the tomatoes before we even crossed the bridge. Clearly he has a serious problem… Cherry tomatoes never last long in our home.

For this recipe, I purchased 4 pints of tomatoes the night before. Since they were gone by morning, I forced him to go get replacement ones, and finally I was able to make the tomato pie I’ve been waiting for. The 4 pints of cherry tomatoes that he brought back and you see partially in these photos, both on the Pie I made for lunch and the “extras”, were gone before dinner.

I used cherry tomatoes here because I love how they burst with a bit of pop of flavor. And, I particularly love this recipe because you only have to cook the pie crust- the tomatoes are NOT cooked (although they can be) so that you can taste them at their most juicy.

This recipe was inspired by a few things. Southern Tomato pie is a concoction with tomatoes in pastry with cheese and mayo – and I wanted one less rich, aka without the mayo (though there’s nothing wrong with mayo!). I saw a version of Southern Tomato pie that included along with those requisite ingredient also adding in summer corn kernels and I loved the idea of that extra texture. I additionally seared mine ok the pan for extra smokiness.

Also, similar to tomato tarts, I picked a cheese combo other than the regular cheddar and mozzarella because I wanted different flavors than essentially a variation of pizza or bruschetta – instead here we’ll be using goat cheese and ricotta mixed with scallions (as inspired by O&O Eats’ Tomato Tart with a Scallion Goat Cheese Filling) and the previously mentioned corn. The best ricotta is one you make yourself – it’s super easy, and you can find my version here for homemade ricotta on this blog post. Using fresh cheeses like goat cheese and ricotta adds creamy texture but still tastes light.

You can make your own pie crust if you’d like (or make this a tart), but I used premade pie dough. Because of that this entire process took about 35 minutes for me as I did the prep for the filling while the Pie Crust baked.

Ingredients:

• 1 9″ Pie Crust (your own recipe or purchased)
• 4 ounces of plain chevre / goat cheese
• 4 ounces (about half cup)  fresh Ricotta
• 2-3 chopped scallions (about half cup)
• 1/2 cup of Cooked corn kernels (approximately one ear of corn)

Directions:

1. Pre-bake the pie crust according to your recipe or instructions on the package. Make sure you use pie weights or other weights like beans, rice, etc. to weigh down the Pie (placed atop parchment paper) after using a fork to make an even amount of holes.
   
2. Meanwhile, while chopping the scallions, you can additionally sear the corn kernels like I did –  a teaspoon of butter melted in a pan on high heat, add in blanched corn kernels and let sit there untouched for at least 7 minutes before stirring to sear. Alternatively steam or grill the corn per your preference because they should already be cooked.
   
3. In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, ricotta, scallions and if you choose to add it, corn (let it cool a little, don’t add it to the cheese fresh from cooking so it doesn’t melt the cheese mixture too much). For other flavor variations you might try flavored chevre instead of plain.
   
4. Spread it carefully in the pie than top with the cherry tomatoes- I placed them in whole to get the burst with every spoonful, or you can choose to halve them. You may also want to consider already cutting the Pie into six pieces before topping with the tomatoes so each piece has nice whole grape tomatoes.
   
5. Sprinkle a little corn on top to fill in gaps between tomatoes.
   

Pair this with a glass of white and eat this al fresco to fully celebrate all the bounty of this late summer and early fall season!

Have you had tomato pie before? What is your favorite recipe using cherry tomatoes?