Bacon (Oh, yes I said bacon!) Tomato Pie

[UPDATE: This pie won!  Yeah!!!!]

My boyfriend works at a glamorous ad agency downtown (to me, anything downtown is glamorous) and they have a super slick white laminate office designed with clean lines, glass, bright colors, and populated with all manner of hipster-type youngsters and Austin crunchy hippies.  They have food catered and free beer on Friday.  And, like most ad agencies, it is jam-packed with hypercreative people who have more ideas than any hippie art teacher you had in high school.  These minds need constant inspiration, and they are always having some fun, weird, so-Austin event.

Compare to my insurance job.  (Need I say more?)  (Disclaimer:  I love my job.  I love my job!)

So, yesterday's event du jour at the Ad Agency was a pie-off.  Thinking outside the box, of course, you have to go with a pie that you can't just buy at Marie Callendar's...but that you can get at one of Austin's staples, Kerbey Lane:  tomato pie.

In 140 characters or less:

@KerbeyLaneCafe is often filled with earthy-type/zen people who love pancakes, serenity, and prefer organic, seasonal, & vegetarian dishes.

 

For me, Kerbey Lane in northwest Austin became a dependable, easy-to-find neighborhood spot with something on the menu for everyone.  Tomato pie is my all-time fave from Kerbey Lane, but it is a seasonal item.  So, during the non-tomato pie season, I make do with their Nabil's Feast or whatever pancake they have on special (they have seasonal pancakes, too--like their lemon poppyseed.) 

Anyway, when you decide make anything remotely sounding like a comfort food, like tomato pie, you only need one website to reference:  JustAPinch.com

For those of you who have never heard of JustAPinch...I forgive you.  ;-)

Just let me get my nerd moment over with:  this website appeals to me on several levels.   At first glance, it looks like an interesting forum-based website chock full of sassy (not flashy)  graphics, links, and products.  It is a platform for foodies to post recipes, photos, questions, and yummy goodness to their hearts' content.  It's like a Facebook for people who love to cook! 

The people who run this website really have it down.  Marketing, $$, people who have been in the publication biz forever.  It's a solid website, backed by a solid business model.

When you do a search on JustAPinch for "tomato pie," you'll get several equally yummy-sounding recipes.  However, anything with "bacon" will always pop out at me.

This one was a winner for us, and you will be the talk of the town if you make it for your coworkers:

Bacon Tomato Pie
by Kim Phillips-Randolph

Kim, if you ever read this:  I love you!  Thank you so much for this recipe!!!

As with my last post, this recipe is so crazy easy.  Shame on you if you don't make one yourself.

Just a few notes:

• Ain't no shame in using pre-made pie crust.  I used a two-pack of Pillsbury pie crusts.
• You can either cut the bacon prior to frying, or (like I did) just fry it, drain, and crumble.
• I did not realize I should have skinned the tomatoes, per the recipe.  Oopsie!  It didn't matter.
• I used about 8 larger-sized Roma tomatoes per pie and nuked the slices for about four minutes.  You don't have to--I just thought it would help "melt" them down a little.  After that, I drained them.
• My secret ingreedamint was McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning instead of salt & pepper.  The recipe calls for 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  I used 1/2 tsp of the Steak Seasoning.  I pretty much love it on anything.  You could say it's my ketchup.  ;-)
• I don't know why it just seemed weird to mix cheese and mayo together, but it is very effective as a topper.
• 425F at 35 minutes???!!!!  Yes.  Just do it.  Check in at about 30-minutes. 
• Make extra bacon.  Everyone smelling it in the house will want some.  Especially the cook.