Roasted Curry Tomato Pie

I was skeptical about this Food & Wine recipe being good, but it was outstanding! It’s rather like a pizza, actually, but more flavorful and refined. I’d go as far to say that this tomato pie puts even the best pizzas to shame. I highly recommend trying this. If you can use fresh, farmers-market tomatoes, all the better.

It’s pretty easy to make, but note that you need just maybe just four medium/big tomatoes. I doubt that I used more than a pound. Also note that the ground turmeric in the crust will slightly stain the sheet pan that you cook it on.

Enjoy!

What you’ll need for the crust:

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 
• 1t kosher salt (0.5t if using Morton’s kosher salt) 
• 0.5t ground turmeric 
• 0.5t black pepper 
• 0.5 cups (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cubed 
• 4 or 5T ice water

What you’ll need for the tamarind onions:

• 2T canola oil 
• 0.5 large red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 0.5t kosher salt 
• 0.5t ground black pepper 
• 0.5t crushed red pepper 
• 1T tamarind concentrate

What you’ll need for the tomato filling:

• 2 pounds ripe red medium-size and cherry tomatoes (this may be too much)
• 0.5T Madras curry powder 
• 1t kosher salt, divided 
• 8 oz shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
• 2 oz shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (not sure why sharp yellow wouldn’t work)
• 0.5 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 0.5 cups mayonnaise (don’t you DARE use Miracle Crap Whip!)
• 1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped 
• 0.5t crushed red pepper 
• 1T olive oil 
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

What to do:

To make the pastry crust, pulse the flour, salt, turmeric, and black pepper in a food processor until combined. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is cut into small bits—maybe about 10 or so pulses. Slowly add 4T ice water while pulsing, adding up to 1 more tablespoon ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough forms a ball. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate until chilled (about a half-hour).

Next, it’s time to make the tamarind onions. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Stir in the onion, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onion becomes translucent (about 10 mins). Stir in the tamarind until combined. Remove from heat, and set aside.

To prep the tomatoes, first begin heating your oven to 400°F in preparation for the next two steps. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with 2 layers of paper towels. Cut the medium-size tomatoes into 0.5-inch-thick slices; then cut cherry tomatoes in half. Place the tomatoes on the paper towels and sprinkle one side with curry powder and 0.5-teaspoons salt. Turn them all over and sprinkle the other side with remaining 0.5-teaspoon of salt. Let them rest like that for 10 minutes.

This is your final step before assembly and cooking. Stir the cheeses, onion, mayonnaise, serrano chili and red pepper together in a large bowl. On a floured surface, roll the pastry dough into a 12-inch circle or oval. Trim the edges, if needed. Transfer the rolled dough to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet and spread cheese mixture over it, leaving a 2.5-inch border around edge. Note that you may not need to use all of the cheese mixture. 

Now layer the sliced tomatoes, curry side down, on the cheese mixture, filling in the gaps with cherry tomatoes. Top the tomatoes with the tamarind onions and fold the exposed border-dough toward the center, pleating as necessary (you can see from the photo what this looks like). Drizzle the toppings with olive oil, and brush the exposed crust with egg.

Bake in a 400-degree oven until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. This should take about 20-25 minutes. When it’s done, let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.