Tomato & Spinach Pie

Yummy!

Big ol' juicy tomatoes from the farmers market need a good home and I found one for them in this pie, a rendition of my Tomato Pie we enjoy from time to time.

Like many good summer vegetables, we get to enjoy fresh tomatoes only a short time around here, I mean, real fresh from the vine right from the farm, right slap-dab from Mobile county. It won't be too long from now and the vines will start to fade away from the heat which means tomatoes from non-local, foreign soils, which means storage which means not so fresh.

So while the gettin' is good, I'm enjoying fresh tomatoes the best I can. I had so many on this day, I made two pies, one for us and one for a neighbor. Sorry the rest of you missed out but I hope you try this one as we think it is really good. Enjoy!


Tomato and Spinach Pie
for a single pie

2 large ripe fresh tomatoes, sliced thin
Salt
1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 garlic pod, minced
Good dash of Creole seasoning
Baked pie crust for single pie
1 -10 oz package frozen cream spinach
black pepper
Grated pepper jack cheese

Salt the tomatoes and let rest on paper towels for an hour or more to remove excess liquid. Tomatoes need to be very dry.

Sauté the onions in the butter over medium heat, sprinkle with the sugar and cook until caramelized. Stir in the garlic toward the end of cooking.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave cooking on medium high for a minute or two. Remove spinach from cryovac package and add to the onions. Let simmer to reduce liquid and seasoning with Creole seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Blot the tomatoes with paper towels to remove excess liquid and salt. Place a spoon full of spinach mixture in the baked shell along the side and top with a tomato. Continue around the shell and finish filling in the middle.

Lightly sprinkle cheese over the pie. Cover edges of pie crust with foil to protect from burning. Bake for 30 minutes or until set and top is brown. Turn broiler on if needed to brown the cheese.

Note: You can omit the frozen cream spinach by making your own, or use torn fresh spinach wilted down a bit and mix with a little mayo that is just as good.