September 16, 2016 • FOOD, RECIPE
Vivian Howard is the chef and proprietor of celebrated Kinston, NC-based restaurants Chef & The Farmer and Boiler Room Oyster Bar.
She’s releasing her new cookbook next month. Titled Deep Run Roots, the book is “a love letter to the food of my region and the people and experiences that made me the person I am,” Vivian says.
We can’t wait to devour it. In the meantime, we’ll be cooking up the recipe for Roasted & Fresh Tomato Pie she shared with us below, along with .
“As soon as the first tomato blossom turns into a tiny green orb, people start calling Chef & The Farmer to find out if tomato pie is on the menu,” writes Vivian Howard in Deep Run Roots. “In a restaurant where we sell more big hunks of meat than I’d like to admit, tomato pie outsells everything all summer. If you have access to two different colors of tomatoes, combine them here—one for the roasted portion and another for the fresh. It’s a nice visual touch.” (Image credit: Rex Miller.)
Roasted & Fresh Tomato Pie from Deep Run Roots by Vivian Howard
Makes 1 10-inch pie
Ingredients for the Filling
1 tablespoon butter
1 large yellow onion, halved and cut into julienne with the grain
2 teaspoons salt, divided
3½ pounds tomatoes cut into ½-inch dice, divided
1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon picked thyme
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10 turns of the pepper mill or ¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅓ cup picked basil leaves
½ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup grated Fontina
⅓ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Ingredients for the Pie Crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter cut into ½-inch cubes
2 tablespoons ice-cold water
½ teaspoon white vinegar
Directions
Make the crust: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium for a few seconds. Then begin adding the butter one cube at a time. Continue until the flour is speckled and crumbly. With the mixer still running, add the water and vinegar until just combined. Do not over-mix. Lay roughly a 10″x10″ square of plastic wrap on the counter in front of you and turn the dough out onto it. Wrap the dough tightly in the plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Bring the crust to room temperature. Dust your counter and rolling pin lightly with flour and roll the crust slightly larger than your pie pan. Lay the crust in the pan and press gently into its edges. Cut off the edges that hang over and discard. Freeze the crust in the pie pan for at least 15 minutes or until you’re ready to blind-bake.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lay foil or parchment paper on top of the crust and weight that down with dried beans or rice. Blind-bake for 30 minutes.
Make the filling: Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a medium sauté pan or skillet, melt the butter and add the onions and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook the onions over medium-low heat till they are deeply caramelized. This will take about an hour. If your onions get away from you and burn a little, add ¼ cup of water to the pan, scrape up the over-browned bits, and keep going. In the end, you’ll have a scant ⅔ cup caramelized onions.
Toss half the tomatoes with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar. Set them over a colander and let them drain while you get everything else ready, at least 30 minutes.
Toss the remaining tomatoes with ½ teaspoon salt, the thyme, and the olive oil. Spread them out in a single layer on a sheet tray with as much room separating the individual pieces as possible. Slide the tray onto the middle rack of your oven and roast for 20 to 30 minutes. You’re looking for the tomatoes to dry out and brown slightly.
Once all the individual components are done, stir together the onions, the fresh tomatoes, the roasted tomatoes, the remaining salt, sugar, black pepper, and basil. In a separate, smaller bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, Fontina, and Parm.
Spoon the filling into your blind-baked crust and crown it with the topping. Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 30 minutes. You can serve this warm or at room temperature. Both have their virtues.
Read our Q&A with chef Vivian Howard right here and get her recipe for Peanut, Pepsi & Bourbon Floats right here. You can also check out Vivian’s food truck book tour schedule and pre-order Deep Run Roots here.
FAQs
The main reason roasted tomatoes end up soggy is because they are overcrowded on the pan. Make sure to use a baking sheet large enough to accommodate all the tomatoes with a little breathing room. Roasted tomatoes are juicier than other roasted vegetables, so some liquid is OK (and it's concentrated and yummy-tasting).
Does roasting tomatoes change the flavor? ›
As they roast, they lose moisture, and their flavor intensifies. They come out of the oven chewy & tart, with a super-concentrated, intense umami flavor. These little guys are totally irresistible! Make sure you roast a big batch – you'll find endless ways to use them.
How to roast tomatoes Martha Stewart? ›
Directions. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with thyme or oregano, olive oil, and garlic, if using; season with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are very soft and skins have split, 8 to 10 minutes.
What is tomato pie made of? ›
It's a savory pie, not sweet, filled with fresh garden tomatoes, sprinkled with basil, and held together with a mixture of mayonnaise and shredded cheese. The egg in the mayo acts as a binder to help hold the filling in place.
How to prevent tomatoes from getting soggy? ›
To eliminate moisture, they turned to an old chef's trick for removing water from vegetables: a liberal salting. After salting and draining tomato slices, America's Test Kitchen chefs then pressed them firmly with paper towels before layering them in the pie.
Should I salt tomatoes before or after roasting? ›
When you simply salt a tomato, you not only draw out the juices, but you also concentrate the fruit's flavor. And Epi's Food Editor, Anna Stockwell, says salting tomatoes before baking is essential.
What enhances the flavor of tomatoes? ›
Well, if you really want to amp up the taste of your tomatoes, cream of tartar is your answer. Yes, there are other ways to make your tomatoes taste even better and increase the acidity. There is lemon, vinegar, or my personal favorite, balsamic.
What gives tomatoes good flavor? ›
And flavor, said Jay Scott, an emeritus tomato breeder at the University of Florida, basically comes down to just three things — sugar, acids, and aromatic volatiles. Some people like much sweeter tomatoes while others like less sweet tomatoes — no one tomato variety will ever be a “perfect” tomato to everyone.
Is it OK to roast tomatoes on aluminum foil? ›
Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil.
This step makes clean-up a cinch. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil or avocado oil so they won't stick to the foil, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to season as they cook.
Do I need to peel tomatoes before roasting? ›
Easy Roasted Tomatoes for Sauce and Freezing – Anyone can do this! No peeling or coring needed. Just clean, cut, roast, process, and freeze or use immediately.
Do not use an aluminum pot, pan or utensil when cooking tomatoes. The acid in the tomato reacts unfavorably with the aluminum. Using aluminum makes the cooked tomatoes more bitter and fades the color. The dish will also absorb some of the aluminum and the acid in the tomatoes can pit and discolor the aluminum cookware.
What is an original tomato pie? ›
Back at the turn of the century, there was no refrigeration so toppings were very basic. This gave birth to the tomato pie. The classic New Haven tomato pie is simple: dough, crushed Italian tomatoes, pecorino romano, and EVOO. That's it. Later, anchovies, garlic, and onions were also added.
What is another name for tomato pie? ›
A 1903 article in the New-York Tribune on the food of Italian-Americans described a "pomidore pizza", or tomato pie, made solely with dough, tomatoes, and powdered red pepper. Tomato pie has been sold by Iannelli's Bakery in Philadelphia since 1910.
How do you keep roasted vegetables from getting mushy? ›
Don't crowd the baking sheet.
If you crowd and overlap the veggies, they will steam and get mushy, not what we want! Roast vegetables at a high heat, 425 degrees F and make sure you preheat the oven so it is HOT when the veggies go in!
How do you fix mushy roasted vegetables? ›
How to reheat roasted vegetables
- Heat 1 Tbs. of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Once oil is warm, add an even layer of roasted veggies to the pan and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Flip the vegetable halfway through cooking. ...
- Serve the veggies over your desired starch and enjoy.
The next time you roast vegetables, add some cornstarch. Yes, cornstarch—that box in your pantry is the secret to a super-crispy exterior on veggies, from potatoes to cauliflower.
Why are my oven roasted veggies soggy? ›
If the pan is packed too tightly, the vegetables will steam instead of caramelizing. The result is sad, limp, less-than-flavorful vegetables. The solution: Give your vegetables some room to breathe. Arrange the veggies in a single layer, keeping at least a quarter inch of space between them.
