TOMATO PIE recipe

My mom gave me a bunch of tomatoes....a bunch. We have eaten tomatoes every day since then. Salads, sandwiches, sliced on the plate...you name it. But we're going away for my husband's neice's wedding and I knew they wouldn't last until we returned. What to do? (light bulb moment) Ah Ha! I'l make tomato pie!

Story time:

Back when I was over the Proverbs 31 Woman, FBC ministry I started what was called "Casserole Co-Op" at church. It was a blast! That first event, back in 2000 was a phenom! We had so many great dishes. The ladies would submit their recipe beforehand and the church compiled them into a booklet. The night of the "co-op" the ladies would bring their dish prepared and each lady would get a copy of the booklet. (be patient, I'm getting to the tomatoe pie story, I promise)

A friend, Lisa H, who was in my Sunday School class at the time brought a Tomato Pie. She said it was actually her friend's recipe, but in my mind it has always been "Lisa's Tomato Pie". Now, if you're turning up your nose right now at the thought of a tomato pie you can just stop that, right now. I thought the same thing when she mentioned bringing it to a Sunday School class party! I remember she called and said she was thinking about bringing a tomato pie. I'm thinking ... "really?", but I said "oh, okay". Lemme just tell you, everybody, and I mean men too, were going back for seconds! It was so delicious!!!

So when she said she was bringing that to the Casserole Co-Op, I knew it would be a hit. It was.

Now I own the recipe and have made it for several occasions to rave reviews myself! So, this is "whats for dinner" ! Hubby was very pleased to hear we were having Tomato Pie. I even got one of those "Wow! You haven't fixed that in a long time!" Oh, and you know that standing ovation I get when he's totally wowed with his meal? Yep. I got one!

So, by now you're probably saying "Enough! On with the tomato pie recipe!", right? Ok, then....

Tomato Pie

1 deep dish pie shell (I tried Walmart's generic brand instead of the "expensive" one I usually get, and it's really flaky! I like it!)

tomatoes

sweet basil

salt and pepper

1 chopped onion (recipe says small, but I never pay attention to that! LOL) Remember those onions I froze back in April???

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup mayonnaise (Now don't you go and hyperventilate over this. You're not going to eat the whole pie in one sitting, are you?)

Bake pie shell until almost done.

Slice tomatoes thickly. Completely cover the bottom of the pie shell.

Add salt and pepper.

Cover with onions, sprinkle basil.

Mix cheese and mayonnaise; spread ove pie.

Bake until hot and bubbly at 350 degrees. (approximately 20 minutes)

Notice the onions ON TOP??? I forgot the onions in the assembly so I put 'em on top because, like I said; I LIKE (cooked) ONIONS! and I wasn't going to leave 'em out.

Sorry there isn't a picture of them baked, we tore into 'em right away. Barely letting them cool!

** Note: Lisa says the only mayonnaise to use is Dukes brand (being the good South Carolina girl that she is) and it is good, but I had Hellman's and I really like that too so that's my Florida version of Dukes.