You have not lived until you've experienced Rustic Tomato Pie, and I'm not even kidding! One of our all-time favorite summer treats when homegrown tomatoes are in abundance, this tomato pie is like eating a heavenly cheese and tomato pizza; the combination of sweet tomatoes with the fresh basil and the goat cheese topping is completely mouth-watering. #Tomatoes #Basil #GoatCheese #Summer
1 1/2 - 2lbsnicely ripened homegrown tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick, drained a bit (approx. 5-6 large tomatoes)
4oz.creamy goat cheese, softened
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2cupHellman's mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4cupchopped fresh basil, may substitute 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Biscuit Dough
1 3/4cupsall-purpose flour
2tsp.baking powder
1tsp.granulated sugar
1/2tsp.baking soda
3/4tsp.kosher salt
6Tbs.cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4cupbuttermilk (I usually just substitute 3/4 cup milk that has been combined with 1 Tbs. cider vinegar)
Instructions
Make the Biscuit Dough
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and the cornmeal together; reserve.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender or a knife and fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse meal in texture.
Stir in the buttermilk, just until the flour mixture is moistened, taking care not to over mix. (The dough should just come together and should be rather sticky.) Knead the dough 5-6 times, then let it rest for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle a large sheet of parchment paper with half of the flour/cornmeal mixture. Place the prepared biscuit dough onto the prepared sheet of parchment paper, patting the dough into a 5-inch disc.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll the biscuit dough into a very large circle (approx. 16-18" in size)until it's about 1/4-inch in thickness. Add a bit of the cornmeal/flour mixture beneath the edges of the dough as needed to keep it from sticking to the parchment paper as you roll it out.
Assemble the Pizza Pie
Slide the parchment sheet holding the prepared dough onto a large, rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining half of the flour/cornmeal mixture, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange the sliced tomatoes over the top of the flour/cornmeal mixture, slightly overlapping the tomatoes as you go.
Meanwhile, combine the goat cheese, mayo, cottage cheese, Parmesan, and basil in a bowl. Dollop the prepared goat cheese mixture in generous spoonfuls over the sliced tomatoes, then smooth the dollops out into an even layer. Fold the dough over the edge of the tomatoes, pleating the dough where needed to make folds, working your way around the edge. Season the tomato pie with freshly ground black pepper.
Bake the tomato pie, uncovered, on the lower oven rack until the bottom crust is a deep golden brown, approx. 8-10 minutes; move the pizza to the middle oven rack, baking an additional 10-15 minutes until the top crust is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly all throughout. Let the tomato pie cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing into pie-shaped wedges to serve.