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Heirloom Tomato Pie

Heirloom Tomato Pie is one of my favorite ways to use luscious summer tomatoes. Layers of vine ripened tomatoes with fresh herbs and goat cheese. Summer dinner perfection!

heirloom tomato pie

This pie is usually the first dish I make when the summer tomatoes start rolling in. It’s my husband’s favorite, it’s fairly light and is just as good, if not better, for breakfast or lunch the next day.

In our area “tomato pie” usually refers to a thick bread-y crust baked with tomato sauce on top, basically a cheese-less pizza. But in our house a tomato pie is a fruit pie like any other other, except it’s savory. 

How to make a great Heirloom Tomato Pie:

  • This dish is really more of a concept than an actual recipe. The essential ingredients are a blind-baked pie crust and tomatoes. All the other ingredients are optional, well except maybe the salt, because tomatoes love salt.
  • I usually layer chunks of soft goat cheese in this pie because I think the flavors really work. But hey, use whatever cheese you’ve got on hand or is your favorite.
  • Summer herbs are a natural with these flavors. I particularly like lemon thyme with tomatoes, but fresh basil, parsley or oregano are also great choices.
  • Once you’ve got the pie dough rolled and blind-baked the pie comes together super fast.
  • It’s pretty fail proof as long as you make sure to bake it until all the juices are bubbling, not just around the edges (check under one of the slices in the middle).
  • You have to wait a good 45 minutes to an hour after it comes out of the oven before you cut it. The juices need to reabsorb into the pie for the slices to hold their shape.
  • Luckily, this pie is perfect to make ahead since it tastes great slightly warm, room temperature or even chilled.

Of course this pie is wonderful made with classic Flaky Pie Dough, but it’s also really great with Cornmeal Pie Dough, Whole Wheat Pie Dough or Rye Pie Dough

assorted heirloom tomatoes on a table

Scroll through the process photos to see how to make Heirloom Tomato Pie:

slices of heirloom tomatoes on a paper towel

Slice the tomatoes and lay them on paper towels to absorb some excess juice

a pie shell lines with foil and filled with dried beans

To blind bake the crust line it with foil and pie weights or dried beans. This will help the empty shell keep it shape while it bakes.

a pie shell filled with heirloom tomatoes and cheese ready for more layering

heirloom tomato pie

heirloom tomato pie 6

This is summer on a plate! Pour me a glass of cold rosé wine to go with it and I’m a happy camper.

You might also like Ratatouille Galette for a perfect summer dinner.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

heirloom tomato pie

Heirloom Tomato Pie

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Layers of vine ripened tomatoes with fresh herbs and goat cheese add up to summer dinner perfection!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 recipe Perfect Pie Crust or Cornmeal Pie Crust
  • 2.5 - 3 pounds tomatoes, preferably heirloom but definitely vine-ripened
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 4 ounces soft goat cheese such as Chèvre, broken into small 1/2 chunks
  • 4 oz speck, Pancetta or other bacon type meat, diced to 1/4" cubes
  • 2 large sprigs of lemon thyme
  • kosher salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Roll the pie dough and line a deep dish pie pan, flute the edges with your fingers or a fork. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the pie shell 10-12 times. Allow the pie shell to rest in the refrigerator while you prepare the tomatoes.
  3. Slice the tomatoes into 1/2" thick slices. Line the tomato slices in single layers on paper towels, place another paper towel on each layer and continue to stack and layer all the slices.
  4. Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator. Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Press the beans or pie weights all the way across the pan to ensure the sides of the shell won't slip as it bakes.
  5. Blind bake the pie shell until the dough is baked through and just beginning to brown. Reduce the oven to 350°F. While the pie shell is baking cook the meat until crispy and drain on a paper towel.

Assemble the pie

  1. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the panko crumbs across the bottom of the pie shell. Place a layer of slightly overlapping tomato slices into the pie shell. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, about a tablespoon of grated Parmesan, a few leaves of thyme and about 1/4 of the meat bits over the tomatoes. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the goat cheese over the layer of tomatoes.
  2. Continue layering the tomatoes and other ingredients to fill the pie shell. The tomatoes will collapse while the pie bakes so you can overfill the shell a little. Sprinkle the last tablespoon of panko, some more Parmesan and a few leaves of thyme on the top of the pie.
  3. Bake until the top of the pie is browned and the juices from the tomatoes are bubbling. Peak under one of the tomatoes in the middle of the pie to ensure that the juices in the middle are bubbling too, not just around the edges.
  4. It will probably take just over an hour to bake. Cool for at least one hour before slicing so the juices can reabsorb.

Notes

The pie must cool at least one hour before slicing. If you cut it before the juices have time to reabsorb the pie will fall apart.

I like it slightly warm, at room temperature and even cold the next day.

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Did you make this recipe?

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Denise Severson

Tuesday 14th of September 2021

Another winner, especially with garden-fresh tomatoes and herbs; highly recommend! Substitutions, because it's what I had on hand: shredded cheddar for the goat cheese; pulverized wheat crackers for the panko; and plum tomatoes for the 1st layer, and enough cherry tomatoes for remaining 2 layers instead of heirloom tomatoes. Thank you for sharing another great recipe!

Eileen Gray

Tuesday 14th of September 2021

This is one of our absolute favorite for a light summer dinner.

Megan

Monday 8th of May 2017

Yum! I'm always looking for recipes to help me take advantage of the summer tomato bounty. Definitely bookmarking this one!

Eileen Gray

Tuesday 9th of May 2017

Thanks, Megan. It's a favorite at our house.

Eleonora

Saturday 6th of May 2017

I love tomato tarts! Thanks for this lovely share :-)

Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen

Wednesday 3rd of May 2017

I absolutely adore heirloom tomatoes! What a delicious way to use them :)

Eileen Gray

Wednesday 3rd of May 2017

It's one of my favorite summer tomato dishes!

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