Thanks, Winnie

The first summer we were married, Ellis was sent to spend a month & 1/2 in Lenior, NC to complete his family medicine rotation for medical school. Since I was off from teaching for the summer, I was invited by his host, a 76-year-old lady named Winifred (or, Winnie, as we liked to call her) to come along too.

Winnie and I became fast friends as we quickly discovered we had many things in common.

For example, our love of cats. (We almost had Ellis convinced to let me keep a stray kitten until we found in a hole in its neck with a worm coming out of it...yeah, it was gross).

Winnie and I soon developed a daily routine that included working on the New York Times Crossword Puzzle during breakfast, heading down to the senior exercise center together in the mid-morning, and then looking up recipes together from magazines to make for lunch.  In the afternoons/evenings we would enjoy going into town or frequenting the local minor league baseball games for the "Hickory Crawdads." This is where I got to meet many of Winnie's other friends. I loved it all so much.

The other day, I came across one the recipes we made together that summer. Our favorite recipes to experiment with were those that used basil & tomatoes, and one such recipe was for "Tomato Pie."

I came across this recipe out of the blue early last week, and I have already made it twice (and eaten the whole thing myself both times!) It has been extra fun using the vegetables from our backyard garden, and I have found that adding any favorite vegetables to the pie makes it even better!

Ellis kept asking for some, and I really meant to save him some, but then I kept thinking, "well, I will just make another one!" So, guess what ingredients are on the grocery list for today?


"Winnie's Tomato Pie"

Ingredients:

1 frozen 9-inch pie crust
1/2 chopped onion (preferably sweet)
1 "fist full" of shredded cheddar cheese (preferably sharp), mozzarella, or monterey cheese
One large tomato or a few small ones
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup (or more) ricotta cheese
about 2 Tbs minced basil

Let one frozen 9-inch pie crust thaw about 10 minutes, then prick well with a fork and back @ 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes (until brown). Then turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie crust with about a first-full of cheddar, mozzarella or monterrey cheese. Place an overlapping layer of chopped onion over the cheese and then cover with a layer of overlapping tomato slices (and other vegetables if desired).

In a bowl, mix basil, parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheeses. Spread this mixture over the pie and bake for about 20-30 minutes @ 350 degrees, or until the topping is browned. (I have found that adding more vegetables means adding more baking time). Serve warm or cold.