what we had for dinner Monday night

 

Happy Wednesday, friends, and welcome to my summer doldrums! 🤣 What I mean by this is that the fourth of July is over, now I'm counting down to September. I love fall and the heat has been brutal lately. I've also reached the point of the summer when I don't love to cook or use the oven. We're eating quick, easy, light meals, and the more I can use something small like the air fryer, the better. That being said, here's what we had for dinner Monday night. 

Tomato pie! It's the first time I've ever eaten it and the first of many times to make the recipe. I have only heard of tomato pie since my drive home from the beach. I was listening to The Big Boo Cast, and Melanie mentioned a restaurant that serves a great version in Birmingham. Thus, my research began, and I found the recipe that sounded the best. It helped that my sister Trish had brought me some of Bill's tomatoes last week. I put them to good use! Isn't it beautiful in this first picture? But here was what it looked after cooking it and then the slice I had for dinner Monday night. 

The recipe that I read says that this tastes like "pizza that meats cheesy bread". I would agree! Here is the recipe I used, but I did make a modification. Also, do not skip the hot sauce! I think it's what added the extra dose of flavor I picked up on. The modification I made is this: I didn't want to use all the mayonnaise it called for since we're trying to eat healthy, so I used 1 tablespoon of mayo mixed in with one beaten egg. Before you make it, if you make it, I do suggest first reading the recipe in its entirety. This was very simple to make, but another thing I will add is that you need to dice the tomatoes either the night before or early the day that you plan on making this—you need to drain as much as the juice from them as possible, if not, your pie will have a soggy bottom. I let mine drain for about three hours prior to baking. 

There are a few things that I did that I f eel like made this better. First, I never use store bought grated cheese. I always have a block of it on hand, and thanks to my days of watching The Pioneer Woman, she convinced me to start doing this many years ago. It makes a huge difference! I also think good cheese makes a difference, so I used sharp cheddar and parmesan. You could use gouda, Monterey Jack, Colby, or any other variety you just so happen to have on hand. I can't remember if the recipe says to do this, but after I diced all the tomatoes, I did sprinkle them generously with salt. That creates more juice in them, and after stirring them for several minutes, I was able to drain it off one last time. I did pre-bake my pie crust for about ten minutes, but I forgot to put something weighted in the bottom. I was afraid it was going to crack, so I stopped the timer and pulled them out. I did use the store bought pie crusts. Lastly, the homegrown tomatoes were what made the dish. I had a variety of heirloom tomatoes, so if you don't grow them yourself, I suggest hitting up your local farmer's market, then making this a day or two after. The more ripe the tomatoes, the better this tasted. And this did taste even better the second night I had it! 

Tell me what you've been eating and loving lately. I'd love to have some dinner inspiration! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!