– How about a buttermilk tomato pie recipe with homemade cottage cheese? –
A while back I posted a recipe for how to make homemade cottage cheese out of leftover buttermilk because it’s an incredibly easy DIY project, and besides, what are you supposed to do with a leftover quart of buttermilk? Now I have the perfect use for that homemade cottage cheese: savory buttermilk tomato pie. Because, really, buttermilk pie – or any variation thereof – makes everyone happy.
(And yes, you can use regular store-bought cottage cheese if you want to.)
Now, I have to be honest. I think it’s a total pain in the ass to make pie crust. I love pie and I adore every other part of making it, but truly, rolling out pie crust or pastry dough is not one of my favorite things to do. Even after perfecting my pie crust skills in pastry school it still feels tedious. It’s like, JUST GIVE ME MY FREAKING PIE ALREADY.
For those that don’t dig the rolling, chilling, and negotiating of the pie crust process, I’ve a better option for you: use the no-roll pie crust pastry I have written up for my Aprium Pie with Ginger, Rum, and Sour Cream Custard. That pie crust is incredibly easy to put together and required almost no effort. And honestly, a drama-free pie crust is right at the TIPPY-TOP of my list of favorite things.
This buttermilk pie recipe is adapted from one I found in the buttermilk edition of ShortStacksEditions, just like the cottage cheese recipe. These little cookbooks are the coolest things I’ve seen in awhile. They’re full of innovative recipes and cut to the chase without any superfluous yammering. And since they’re so small, they’re not even remotely overwhelming. Huzzah!
As far as pies go, this tomato pie is the best thing I’ve eaten all summer – and I’m a mega-fruit pie loving kinda girl. This recipe is bright, tart, and SAVORY, with a touch of tomato sweetness poking through. The sour cream adds to the savory tang, and when paired with fresh thyme and homemade cottage cheese, this dish is surprisingly light and summery instead of being overly heavy. It travels well, making it the ideal dish for picnics, potlucks, and make-ahead recipes for dinner parties.
Enjoy, and happy summer!
Buttermilk Tomato Pie Recipe
Also! The buttermilk in this recipe comes from using the homemade buttermilk cottage cheese that I posted prior to this. If you use regular store-bought cottage cheese, then there's no buttermilk in the pie. :)
Ingredients
Crust:
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons ice-cold vodka (or ice water)
- 1 pound of pie weights (or dried beans)
Filling:
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes cut into 1/4-inch slices
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 large beaten egg minus 1 tablespoon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced chives
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk cottage cheese or regular cottage cheese, drained of all moisture
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
For the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and shortening, and using a pastry blender, cut the fat into the flour until you've got a coarse sandy texture that looks like rolled oats.
- Sprinkle in half the vodka and knead 4 or 5 times, until the dough forms a ball. If the dough still does not come together, sprinkle in a little more vodka, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough comes together to form a shaggy ball. Flatten the dough into a squat disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour has passed, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes (and no longer!). On a flour surface, use a generously floured rolling pin to gently roll the dough to a circle about 1/4-inch thick and 10-inches across. Transfer the dough to a pie plate, allowing 1/2-inch of the dough to hang over the edge. Use your fingers to crimp the edges into an attractive style.
- Prick the bottom of the pie all over with a fork. Line the pie with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, remove the weights, and allow to cool somewhat.
Construct the pie:
- While the pie crust is cooling, line a cooling rack with a few layers of paper towels. Place the tomato slices on the paper towels to dry them out. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and pepper, and allow to drain for 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, egg, and olive oil until well combined. Whisk in thyme and chives. Stir into cottage cheese until the mixture is a nice uniform blend.
- Layer half of the tomatoes into the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust and sprinkle with along a good pinch of salt and another turn of the pepper grinder. Spread half of the filling onto the tomatoes. Arrange the rest of the tomato slices on top of the filling, again sprinkling with a pinch of salt and another turn of the pepper grinder. Layer in the rest of the filling and smooth so that it's even. Sprinkle the top with a generous layer of panko bread crumbs.
- Bake until the bread crumbs are nicely browned, about 30-35 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
You can make the crust a few days ahead of time, if you like, but don't bake it until you're ready to make the pie. Keep the raw crust in the freezer until you're ready to use it.
Nutrition
This content was originally posted on FearlessFresh.com.