There are two food-related (obsessed?) blogs that I wish I wrote: 100cookbooks.com and smittenkitchen.com. Neither fails me whenever I bookmark a recipe.
So when I spotted this recipe for Tomato and Corn Pie on smittenkitchen.com earlier this week, I made a note to make it this weekend.
Holy Mother of All That Is Delicious!
There is simply no better thing do to with late-summer corn and tomatoes. If you’re a food person who reads this (that would be: Mom!), please do yourself a favor and make it while the fixin’s are good.
Allow me to back up just a bit for a seasonal musing. Around the Fourth of July, I sink into a midsummer melancholy, sad that my favorite days are passing while I’m chained to a desk 9 to 5, mournful that I can’t manage (even with summer’s blissfully long days) to accomplish all I want to do.
Then, sometime in early to mid-August, when the days start to shorten perceptibly and the sounds from the swim club across the street stop a bit earlier in the evening, I recognize that summer isn’t waning … it’s beginning. There remain weeks and weeks of 70- and 80-degree temps, summer produce and bouquets of zinnias that last until, around here, the end of October.
So I feel better.
Now, as the farmer’s market kicks into high gear, really, and tomatoes and corn are still in full bounty, recipes like the Tomato and Corn Pie really resonate. There’s something fall-ish about making any kind of pie, and the fact that it’s packed with summer’s best vegetables is just, well, a double crust.
Heaven.
Seriously, make this recipe. It doesn’t note how many servings it yields, but Rob and I polished off nearly half the thing.
tomato corn pie
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 pounds beefsteak tomatoes, peeled (see Kitchen Technique)
1 1/2 cups corn (from about 3 ears), chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
7 ounces coarsely grated sharp cheddar (1 3/4 cups)
(Note: While I was tempted to use Grandma’s pie crust recipe, my go-to, I opted for this version and was glad I did. The baking powder was a terrific addition, making the crust lighter and puffier.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingers or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms a dough, then gather into a ball.
Divide dough in half and roll out one piece on a floured surface (I use a pastry cloth with great results) into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Roll the crust over your rolling pin and lift it into a 9-inch pie plate, gently easing it into place. Trim to leave a 1/2 inch overhang.
Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice. Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, 1 Tbsp. basil, 1/2 Tbsp. chives, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper and 1 cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper. Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal. Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 tsp.). Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Kitchen Technique: If you have a bunch of tomatoes to peel, doing it with a paring knife can be a chore. Instead, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut an X in the stem end of each tomato and drop them several at a time into the boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. Skins will slip off easily.
