Tomato

By Popular Demand: A Savory Pie for Your Rock-Hard Tomatoes

September  9, 2016

Leave it to chef Sara Jenkins to make us seek out the rock-hard beefsteak tomatoes.

When we asked her what she'd do with tomatoes that feel more like softballs than pincushions (and with a handful of other less-than-optimal fruits: the mealy, the watery, the flavorless, etc.), she said:

I would slice them into thick wheels and roast them in a hot oven with salt and olive oil. Then I'd bake them in a tart using my best friend's mother's recipe.

That information alone was enough for many of you to ask that she share it. Ask and you shall receive, tomato-lovers!

The Sue Lyon here is not the film actress best known for her performance in Lolita: It's the mother of Sara's best friend, Giles Lyon. "I've spent countless summer weekends lounging around their pool letting Sue cook for me," Sara says. "This tart is always being made (with her garden tomatoes) and we always fight each other for the last bite—there are never leftovers."

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Our favorite part (besides the layer of grated Gruyère)? The ice water that's used to form the pie dough gets flavored with mustard before it's mixed into the dry ingredients. It's a smart tip for making any savory pie, galette, tart, or quiche dough tasty enough to eat on its own.

Now excuse us: We'll be at the grocery store, squeezing all the tomatoes until we find the hardest ones.

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Kentuckylady717
    Kentuckylady717
  • Smaug
    Smaug
  • Sarah Jampel
    Sarah Jampel
I used to work at Food52. I'm probably the person who picked all of the cookie dough out of the cookie dough ice cream.

6 Comments

Kentuckylady717 September 13, 2016
Sorry about that, but searching I did find the recipe, but it does NOT say what temp to bake the tomato pie on !! Does anyone know ?? And to me I doubt 2 tomatoes will be enough.......
 
Sarah J. September 13, 2016
It's 400° F. Sorry that that information was missing!! And 2 tomatoes was enough for us! But you could also have three on hand just in case there's a margin of error in terms of tomato size.
 
Kentuckylady717 September 13, 2016
Where are the directions for the Tomato Pie ? Why isn't this recipe finished ? Not clear enough !!
 
Sarah J. September 13, 2016
Hi there! Did you click on the recipe itself? It takes you to this page—https://food52.com/recipes/62587-sue-lyon-s-tomato-pie—where the instructions are listed. Hope that helps/is what you're looking for!
 
Kentuckylady717 September 13, 2016
Thanks Sarah I did after doing some searching....but no oven temp .!! Can you give us that too ? Thanks
 
Smaug September 11, 2016
All kinds of things can be added to pie crusts depending on the situation- very small amounts of sugar, spices of all kinds, flavored liquor etc. can make a big difference in the taste; I'm surprised this isn't used more often. "Two ripe garden tomatoes" is incredibly vague, though it shouldn't be hard to figure out what you need- odd, though, since the recipe is proposed for unripe ("rock hard") tomatoes.