Tomato Pie

At the beginning of the summer, my neighbor, Jill, raved about a new recipe that she had tried from Kraft Food & Family magazine.  It sounded wonderful, and I am always looking for more ways to use my basil, so I gave it a try.  The first night that I made it, my mother-in-law was over for dinner.  She loved it, and so did everyone else in my family.  I have made it several times this summer, and the kids are always so excited when they hear that we are going to have tomato pie!  I wish our tomato plants had been more fruitful for us this year, but we are lucky to have friends and neighbors with an abundance.  Tonight's pie was made with a co-workers shared bounty, and when dinner was over, there was but one piece to take into work for him to enjoy...the kids kept going back for more!

Sorry! I forgot to include the onion in the picture!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ready to use refrigerated pie crust
• 4 tomatoes (1 1/2 lb), chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet onions
• 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used fresh and used more than this)
• 1 1/2 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
• 3 Tbsp Kraft mayo with Olive Oil Reduced Fat Mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pie crust in pan as directed on package.  Pierce sides and bottom with a fork.  Bake 12-14 minutes or just until edge begins to brown.
2. Place chopped tomatoes in a colander over the sink or a bowl.  Press onto tomatoes with the back of a spoon to release as much of the juice as possible; discard juice.
3. Sprinkle onions onto bottom of baked crust; top with tomatoes and basil.  Combine cheese and mayo; spoon over tomatoes to within 1/2 inch of edge.
4. Bake 30-32 minutes, or until filling is heated through and crust is golden brown.  Sprinkle with additional basil, if desired.

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 15 minutes prep; ~45 minutes oven time (divided into two parts)

Source: Kraft Food & Family magazine, Summer 2012 edition