Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Revamped: Slow Roasted Tomato-Corn Pie with Bacon, White Cheddar, & Cracked Black Pepper Biscuit Crust

Revamped: Slow Roasted Tomato-Corn Pie with Bacon, White Cheddar,
& Cracked Black Pepper Biscuit Crust
Tomato pie is extremely popular in the South. I have always loved the flavor, but I have always hated the excess of tomato juice at the bottom of the pan. Sogginess + Me = Unhappiness. Almost a year ago, I made  this tomato-corn pie, and I really liked parts of the recipe, but I knew that I wanted to change up a few things the next time I made it. I didn't want to change the crust recipe because I loved the biscuit texture and the black pepper kick. The biggest difference between these two pies are the tomatoes. And don't get me wrong, nothin' is better than a heirloom tomato, like literally. But they have so much juice that it can make the bottom of a tomato pie very soggy. My solution? Axe the fresh tomato pie idea and use slow roasted instead. Slow roasted are an obsession right now. I made the best BLT with them a month ago, and well, they are amazing on top of everything. Well, slow roasted tomatoes are perfect in this pie, y'all. When they are mixed with fresh sweet corn, smoky bacon, creamy cheddar cheese, and green onion, it's a match-made-in-heaven. My Mountain Man, who didn't get to try a piece of my previous pie & who had never even tried tomato pie before, woofed down half of this pie before I could even cut a slice. So, he's officially obsessed with tomato pie now. This is the perfect summer dinner for us... we can just run over to the farmer's market and grab some tomatoes, corn, and green onion, and bake up one of these for dinner. It's perfect with a glass of wine!! Enjoy :)
Cracked Black Pepper Biscuit Crust
All Sliced Into
Look at those beautiful layers...
My Slice of Pie :)
For the Cracked Black Pepper Biscuit Crust:
2C AP Flour
1T Baking Powder
¾t Salt
2t Fresh Cracked Coarse Pepper (or a little more if you like, we liked a lot of pepper)
6T Unsalted Butter, Very Cold & Cut into ¼inch Cubes
¾C Buttermilk

For the Slow Roasted Tomatoes:
8 Barely Ripe Roma Tomatoes, Cut into ½inch Thick Slices
Fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Tomato-Corn Pie:
Prepared Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Room Temperature
2C Fresh Corn
6 Strips of Thick Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cut into Cubes & Fried until Crispy
¼C Sour Cream & Mayo
¼t Cayenne, Paprika, Garlic Powder, & Onion Powder (or seasoned to your liking)
2T Fresh Chives, Minced or Snipped
3 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced (divided)
2C Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
Salt & Pepper, To Taste
1T Melted Butter, For Brushing

Directions:
1. For the Slow-Roasted Tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and lay the slices of tomato onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with the fresh rosemary. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper. Bake for 3-4 hours until shriveled around the edge, but still maintaining their juice. If you have leftover tomatoes, simply cover the leftovers with olive oil and place into the refrigerator.
2. To Make the Biscuit Crust: Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the milk & coarse black pepper, and pulse until it forms dough. Split it in half and roll each out on a well-floured surface. Fit one of the pie crusts into a 9inch pie plate.
3. To Make the Tomato-Corn Pie Filling: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayo, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, fresh chives, 1 green onion, salt and pepper until incorporated. Stir in 1 ½C cheddar cheese until mixed. Place half of the slow roasted tomatoes on top of the crust, and then sprinkle with some of the corn, crispy bacon, and other two sliced green onions. Spoon on the cheese mixture on top of the tomato-corn-bacon-green onion layers and lightly spread it until it’s an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining ½C of cheddar cheese and some chives or green onions.  Fit the other piecrust on top, folding it over the edges of the bottom one and crimping to seal in the juices.
4. Brush the top of the pie with butter and cut slits in the top to let out steam.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling & hot.

2 comments:

  1. I made this last night for a group, and it was a huge hit! That pepper crust, which I needed to add a bit more flour to, was THE BOMB!! And roasting the tomatoes was such a great idea...glad you thought of it!

    A friend and I have also both recently made your Cheerwine tacos...O.M.G. My husband went to bed still talking about them :)

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    1. We love love LOVE this pie as well! It's such a popular dish here in the South, but I really think the slow roasted tomatoes add so much more flavor and solve the soggy-pie-problem!! I am so delighted you liked it, and that cheerwine taco's as well! I absolutely love hearing great feedback and I hope that many more of my recipes will work out for you in the future :) Thanks for the love!

      XOXO,
      Juliana

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