Tomato Galette (a relative of tomato pie) by Lucy Burdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE: When I saw these two beautiful red tomatoes from John’s miniature garden on the deck (really talking miniature!), I thought of this recipe for tomato galette. It came from chef John at All Recipes, though I made some tweaks. From the comment section, it appears that the recipe is fairly flexible. I had these big tomatoes, but lots of people made it with cherry tomatoes. I also substituted Boursin for goat cheese since that’s what we had. And I added a little bit of my cheese powder to the dough for an extra pop.

Ingredients for the dough

1 1/3 cups, all purpose flour

Two heaping tablespoons cornmeal

Half a teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen and cut into cubes

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ice water

Optional cheese powder, 1 tablespoon 

Ingredients for the topping 

One package Boursin cheese, flavor of your choice

Two large tomatoes

A handful of basil, slivered

One egg

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the pastry dough up to apple cider and ice water. Pulse this mixture until it comes together as crumbs. Add the vinegar and ice water and continue to pulse until the dough gathers together. Flatten the dough into a disc on plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate for an hour.

Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, and set the slices to drain on paper towels, or a dish towel. Mix the Boursin cheese with the shreds of basil.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Using a sprinkle of flour as needed, roll out the dough to a 13 inch circle and transfer it to a pizza pan or sheet pan.

Spread the basil cheese mixture on the dough circle, leaving the outer inch and a half clear. Set the tomatoes in a pretty arrangement on top of the cheese. Pinch the edges all the way around the circle to contain the tomato cheese mixture. Paint the pie with beaten egg and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake until browning on top 30 to 35 minutes. Let the galette rest until it comes to room temperature. (Okay, we made it 15 minutes and that was fine!) Serve with a green salad.

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

Coming July 14--isn't it gorgeous?

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE is out now! 

And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!

Tomato Pie by Lucy Burdette @Onceuponachef

LUCY BURDETTE: this is my favorite time of the year for produce – the big tomatoes, peppers, okra, peaches, cantaloupe, cucumbers! And do not let me forget corn on the cob.

Once again, lots of critters have ravaged John’s garden, but they don’t seem to care much for tomatoes. So we have a bumper crop! What to do? Time to make a tomato pie. In the past, I’ve made this one with a cornmeal crust, which was quite delicious.

But I saw another recipe on Once Upon a Chef that I wanted to try. This one involves roasting tomatoes and onions, and then baking with cheese and a cheese mayonnaise topping. A bit labor-intensive, but she assured future cooks that it was quite OK to purchase a crust from the freezer department in your grocery store. Usually I make my own, but with the end of my book in sight, I thought I’d try it. SPOILER ALERT: It was rich and delicious!

Ingredients

1 nine-inch frozen (or homemade) pie crust (not deep-dish)

2 lbs tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch pieces 

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, or more to taste

½ cup mayonnaise

1 cup shredded fontina cheese 

⅓ cup grated Pecorino Romano

Preheat the oven to 375

Combine the sliced onions and chopped tomatoes on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Add the olive oil, pepper, thyme, sugar. Mix that all together and spread the vegetables out into one layer. Roast until beginning to brown, about 45 minutes.

Let the pie crust thaw 10 minutes and then prick all over with a fork so it doesn’t puff up. Remove the vegetables from the oven and bake the pie crust until beginning to color, 10-12 minutes.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of fontina to cover the bottom of the crust. Mix the basil into the tomatoes and spread the vegetables over the cheese.

Mix the mayonnaise with the remaining cheeses and dollop this on top. Spread into a thin layer. Bake the pie until bubbly and golden, 25-30 minutes. Serve with a simple green salad. You can eat this hot out of the oven, or at room temperature.

Here’s a bonus recipe for tomato pie via Michael Ruhlman via Ann Hood, who borrows and shines Laurie Colwin’s recipe. (Remember her? Amazing food and fiction writer who died way, way way too young.)

Are you mad for garden-grown tomatoes as I am? What’s your favorite way to eat them?

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join the mailing list here so you don't miss news about the Key West series and Lucy!

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE is out now! And if you choose ebooks as your poison (LOL), A Poisonous Palate is on sale for $2.99 all through September. 

And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!

Tomato Pie with Cornmeal Crust #recipe @LucyBurdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: I think by now most of you have heard that The Key Lime Crime will be in bookstores everywhere this summer--because of the impact of the virus on the publishing business, it will now be out in August. So that's a little disappointing, but I hope you'll find it worth the wait!

For now let's turn our attention to the summer tomato season. In our house anyway, we wait all year for perfect garden tomatoes. We've just put our plants in, but pretty soon they will start rolling in and it will be hard to know how to use them all. This tomato pie is a wonderful addition to your tomato recipe folder. Use any tomatoes that are ripe and delicious, they can be full sized or small. If you’re in a pinch, you could go for a store-bought pie crust. But we think the cornmeal crust added an incredible crunch. This isn’t a dietetic recipe but it sure is delicious!

Ingredients for the crust:

 1/2 cup cornmeal

 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

 6 Tbsp salted butter, cold

 3 tablespoons cold water, more as needed

Ingredients for the tomato filling:

Tomatoes, 2-2 and ½ cups

1 large onion

8-12 leaves fresh basil

8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

½ cup mayonnaise or 1/3 cup plus one egg

½-1 tsp hot sauce

Cut the onions into dice and sauté them in a bit of olive oil over low heat until caramelized. (about 15 minutes)

Cut the tomatoes into chunks, squeeze out the seeds and juice, and sprinkle with a little salt. Leave this in a colander to drain while you work on the crust.

Preheat the oven to 350.

You can use a store-bought pie crust if you’re in a hurry, but the cornmeal adds crunch and a wonderful flavor!

For the cornmeal crust, pulse together the cornmeal and flour in a food processor. Cut the cold butter into chunks, add them to the flour mixture, and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Don’t over work it or the crust will be tough. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each. Stop adding water when the dough comes together in your fingers. (I needed a little more than 3 tablespoons.) Knead the dough into a disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so. Roll it out between two pieces of parchment or wax paper and place into a glass pie pan. Freeze the pan for half an hour, then line with foil and pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake another ten minutes.

Squeeze any remaining liquid from the tomatoes with a paper towel. Place the caramelized onions in the bottom of the pan, followed by the tomatoes. Sprinkle with slivered basil.

Stir together the mayo and egg if using, then beat in the cheese and hot sauce. Spread this over top of the tomatoes. Grind some fresh black pepper over the top and bake for about a half an hour until the filling is browning and bubbling.

Serve hot or room temperature with a green salad.

Only two months until the next book in the Key West food critic mystery series will arrive in bookstores everywhere! THE KEY LIME CRIME (July 2020) is available for pre-order now!

You can order it at an independent bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring fiesty food critic Hayley Snow. Number 9, A DEADLY FEAST, is in stores and online everywhere. THE KEY LIME CRIME will be published next summer. Early reviews are rolling in...

Fresh Tomato Tart #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I was thinking of making a southern tomato pie, a la Paula Dean, as our tomatoes are coming in thick and fast. But reading the recipe, a cup of mayonnaise? And all that cheese and butter and salt? Fortunately, an email came into my inbox from David Lebovitz, and he had a link to a rustic tomato tart. And then I remembered a high calorie version I'd prepared with puff pastry. I decided I could combine the three and hopefully come up with something delicious. I used David Lebovitz's tart dough (though with less salt,) which is easier than a piecrust. And the whole thing is less overwhelming than a Southern mayonnaise pie!

Ingredients

Two large ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly
Fresh basil, as much as you please (8-12 leaves), sliced
One shallot or a bunch of green onions, chopped
About 3/4 of a cup grated cheese (I used the end of a fresh mozzarella ball and some Swiss)
Grated fresh Parmesan for the top
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or even less)
2 teaspoons mustard of your choice (I used my favorite Kozlic's Amazing maple)
Several drops or more Tabasco

For the crust

One and a half cups flour
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
One large egg
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Cut the butter into the flour. I did this using my food processor. Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of water and beat together. Add this to the food processor and pulse until the batter holds together. Here's where you can add more water if you need, I did not. Roll this out between a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom and a piece of waxed paper on top. And transfer it to a baking sheet on the parchment paper and peel off the waxed paper.

Mix mayo with mustard. Spread the mayonnaise mustard mixture onto the bottom of the tart, leaving the outside edges bare. Arrange the chopped shallots over the mayo, followed by tomato slices and basil. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and fold in the edges. Bake at 385 until brown and bubbly, 30-35 minutes.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries--find them wherever books are sold! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest--Instagram too...

Summery, Succulent Tomatoes

It’s hard to beat summertime tomatoes.

Winter tomatoes are anemic shadows of the hearty summer variety. I won’t deign to buy them in winter, unless desperation drives me to it. Sometimes in winter, I’ll get Roma tomatoes at the store; their showy red pulls my attention from the bloodless tomatoes beside them.

In summer, it’s a different story. I step out my back door, pull tomatoes right off the vine, slice them and put them on bread. The drippier, the better.

For me, growing up in the South, summer and tomatoes are intertwined. I remember sweltering days when my mother drove us to the swimming pool for relief from the heat. We’d stop by the Farmer’s Market on the way and men fanned themselves with their straw hats as we picked through their tomatoes.

Neighbors would come by my parents’ house with a bag of tomatoes from their over-productive gardens and stay for a visit on the screened porch under the whirring ceiling fans.

Nowadays, you can still drive through any small, Southern town and see roadside carts filled with okra, snap beans, corn, and tomatoes.

One of my favorite summer treats is tomato pie. I’ll eat it hot from the oven or even eat it straight from the fridge for breakfast.

Tomato Pie

4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced

10 fresh, chopped basil leaves

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 frozen deep-dish pie crust (9 inches)

1 cup grated mozzarella

1 cup grated cheddar

1 cup mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake pie crust according to package directions. For the pie, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put your peeled, sliced tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Drain in colander for 10 minutes. Pat with paper towels to remove excess liquid (and prevent the pie from being soggy.)

Layer in the pie shell as follows: tomato slices, basil, green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix together the grated cheeses and mayonnaise and spread the mixture on the top of the tomato/basil/green onions.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the pie is light brown. Cool.

Enjoy!

The Memphis Barbeque Series, by Riley Adams (Elizabeth Spann Craig) will be released May 2010 from Berkley Prime Crime.

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