Paleo Southern-Style Tomato Pie
This modern take on the traditional tomato pie starts with a gluten-free crust that is buttery, delightfully crumbly, and, even better—tastes like bacon. Anyone who’s been saving their bacon grease after weekend recent breakfasts is in luck, because now is the time to let it shine. Rendered bacon fat is easiest to work with if it has solidified after chilling in the refrigerator. Use a tablespoon measure to scoop the solidified bacon fat into a small bowl to freeze; once frozen, simply pop it out of the bowl and give it a rough chop. All of that said, feel free to use a different solid fat here, such as coconut oil, if you prefer. Enough about the crust, though. The real star of this pie is the tomato—and that’s the way it should be. Featuring homemade mayo, the filling is just richly creamy enough and just herbaceous enough to make your peak season tomatoes feel extra special. And the fact that the whole thing is Paleo-friendly is just the cherry on top! While clearly, you will want to dig into your tomato pie as soon as humanly possible (we can relate), don’t skip out on salting your tomatoes. This step is crucial to a great final product as the salt helps drain the tomatoes of excess liquid without messing up their texture. We recommend baking this tomato pie in a (9-inch) glass pie dish or light metal pie pan to prevent over-browning the crust.
Serves 8
Ingredients
Crust
11/2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons rendered bacon fat, frozen
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Filling
4-5 medium heirloom tomatoes
1/2 cup Homemade Mayonnaise
1/2 cup almond cheddar, shredded (such as Lisanatti brand)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons coarse-ground mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for the tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
Preparation
1. To prepare the crust, place flours and salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until combined.
Cut frozen bacon grease into small pieces and add to food processor. Pulse until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. Add egg and vinegar. Process until mixture comes together, forming a solid mass. Turn out onto a clean dry surface or into a bowl. Form dough into a ball; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. Press dough between to pieces of parchment paper. Roll dough into an even, 10-inch round (about ¼ to 1/8 inch-thick). Transfer dough to a greased 9-inch pie pan. Pressing to adhere across the bottom and up the sides. Crimp edges as desired. Bake crust at 400° for 10 minutes; allow crust to cool 15-20 minutes before filling.
4. To prepare the filling, slice tomatoes ¼ to 1/2-inch-thick. Layer about 1/3 of the tomato slices on top of paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Add more paper towels and another layer of tomatoes; sprinkle with salt. Repeat this process with remaining tomato slices. Let tomatoes stand for at least 1 hour (and up to 12 hours in the refrigerator).
5. Combine mayonnaise, almond cheddar, nutritional yeast, mustard, herbs, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and eggs in a medium bowl; mix until well combined. You should have about 11/3 cups mayonnaise mixture.
6. Soon about 1/3 cup of the mayonnaise mixture into the bottom of the cooled crust; spread filling into an even layer. Place 1/3 of the sliced tomatoes on top of the mayonnaise mixture, creating an even layer (tomatoes can overlap slightly). Repeat process layering 1/3 cup mayonnaise mixture and ⅓ of the sliced tomatoes 2 more times, ending the layering with the last 1/3 cup of mayonnaise mixture on top.
7. Bake assembled pie at 400° for 20-30 mins or until filling is set and golden in color. Check pie during baking and shield the crust if it begins to get too brown. Let pie stand 20 minutes before serving. Garnish with flakey salt, cracked black pepper, and additional fresh basil, if desired.
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