Tomato and Corn Pie

The fall weather is slowly descending upon our subtropical city of Yichang. However, there’s one summer dish we’re not yet ready to stop eating: Tomato and Corn Pie. We discovered this bright dish during the middle of the corn harvest. It has a wonderfully refreshing flavor thanks to the lemon-mayo dressing.

In order to enjoy the deliciousness that awaits, you’ll need to try a few new skills such as peeling tomato skins.

And cutting the kernels off of corn. (Don’t forget to use the back side of the knife to scrape the husk for the luscious corn milk.)

But acquiring new skills has never stopped you in the past has it? On to the recipe…

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 3/4 pounds beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups corn (about 3 ears), coarsely chopped by hand (my preference) or lightly puréed in a food processor, divided
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil, divided
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 7 ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided
• 2 teaspoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Make a pie crust. We are loving our oven-safe rubber mats for rolling out dough nowadays.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

3. Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.

4. Cut an X in bottom of each tomato and blanch in a large pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. (We ran cold water over them.) Peel tomatoes, remove seeds and extra juices.

5. Slice them and arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, one tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper. (We just made one large layer. Still tasted fantastic!) Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

6. 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 teaspoons).

7. 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.

Do ahead: Pie can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled. Reheat in a 350°F oven until warm, about 30 minutes.

For 9×13: Make 1 1/2 batches of the crust (slab pies require more crust for the same amount of filling) and arrange the filling in one layer instead of two in a parchment-lined 9×13-inch pan. Increase the amount of butter you brush the top with to a tablespoon or two and the baking time to about 45 minutes (this is an estimate, you should take it out when it is golden and the filling is bubbling). Be sure to remove the tomato seeds; that extra wetness could make for a slab pie mess.

(Courtesy of Smitten-Kitchen).

Print Friendly