Tomato pies

Before: Pies are not cooked 

The finished product: (garnished with a garlic scape)

Lilah copping the tomatoes from Wishingstone Farm

The first step of this recipe (for 1 pie 8 inches feeds 4 hungry people) is going to the farmers market and picking out the best possible tomatoes. I like getting a combination of different heirloom varieties. Even though they cook at different rates it adds to an interesting texture in the end. While you're at the farmers market pick up 2 onions and a hard cheese - I like Gruyere. As usual this recipe is great if the ingredients are great quality. 

After you return from your "pilgrimage to the farmers market" (yes I do consider the farmer's market my Mecca) your ready to get messy in the kitchen. As most of you know my kitchen is tiny so a mess is inevitable; luckily most of the mess ends up in my compost, which gets turned into soil that goes back into my garden. It's a beautiful system when I actually get around to cleaning. 

Now for the recipe: 

The crust. After talking to a couple of people I have come to the conclusion most are afraid of crust either because they fear the fattening (gasp) stick of butter used , or they are afraid that their crust will be a hard dense rock. I say to those people: butter is delicious (it makes things taste good and keeps you full) and don't make the dough too wet otherwise your crust will be the dense rock.

Directions:

Place 1 stick of butter chopped up in 2 of whole wheat flour with a 1/2 teaspoon salt

and break down the butter into the flour with your hands (Note: this is highly therapeutic)

Once the butter is completely invisible and the dough is clumping... add approx. 3-4 tablespoons of ice water. work the water into the dough until you can form a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Note: I never make this recipe the same way twice. Sometimes I don't have whole wheat flour, sometimes I don't add any ice water, sometimes I add a little more flour. 

After 30 minutes roll out the dough on a floured surface till it is somewhere b/w 1/4-1/6 inch and it should be around 12 inches in diameter

The filling: 

caramelize the two onions: put a tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan and add a little sugar. Stir those onion at a medium heat till they are brown and soft. 

grate 3-4 ounces of gruyere cheese

slice up your favorite kalamata olives

1/2 pound sliced tomatoes

Layer: olives, cheese, onions, then tomatoes, then more cheese on the top into the middle area of the uncooked crust and fold the remaining crust over the filling. 

Bake : 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees.