Tomato Basil Pie

Our 90-plus degrees over the past few weeks has really heated up the herbs in my patio planter.

It went from this:                    

To this:

As you can see, my basil has grown into a MONSTER!

Time to make my college roommate's famous recipe:

Lari's Tomato Basil Pie

Pie innards

3 to 4 Roma tomatoes sliced

about 3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 cup plus 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

heaping TBS of minced garlic in jar

Crust

1 sleeve Ritz crackers

1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan cheese (In green canister)

5 Tbs. melted butter

Start by slicing tomatoes and laying the slabs on several layers of paper towels to absorb the moisture.

Now, make the crust.

Smash up the Ritz crackers. I did this in my food processor,

but you can put them in a large Ziplock bag and crush crackers with a rolling pin.

In a bowl, mix in a half cup of the Kraft Parmesan cheese.

Add melted butter and mix well.

Press mixture into a glass pie plate. I used a quiche dish.

Bake at 350-degrees for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, finely chop the basil leaves.

I did this in my mini-food processor, but you can do it with a knife.

Add the minced garlic and give it a whirl in the food processor.

In a bowl, mix together mayonnaise, one cup shredded mozzarella cheese and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I didn't have the fresh stuff on hand, so I used Kraft in the green canister.

Add the basil-garlic mixture and combine.

When the crust comes out of the oven, sprinkle it with the half cup of shredded mozzarella.

Pat excess liquid off the draining tomatoes with a paper towel.

Arrange the tomato slices over the melting mozzarella.

Smear the mayonnaise-basil paste over the tomatoes.

I grated fresh pepper on the top.

Bake in the oven at 350-degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

This recipe is delicious served with grilled chicken or pork chops.

Pesto

Thougt I'd share my basic pesto recipe because it is so versataile in other recipes I will be sharing in upcoming blogs and a great way to use the summer basil from your garden.

Jill's Basic Pesto

1 1/2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I buy a big canister at Sam's Club)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (You can use pine nuts or almonds instead)

Heaping teaspoon minced or chopped garlic from the jar.

(Found in produce area by fresh garlic bulbs. I LOVE garlic, but add to your taste)

1/2 cup olive oil

Rinse fresh basil and remove leaves from stems.

Put all ingredients except for the olive oil in your food processor.

If you don't have a food processor, use your blender.

Pulse until it's chopped up like this:

Remove the little stopper from the lid of your food processor or blender.

While pulsing, stream olive oil in through the hole.

(It was difficult trying to stream, hold the pulse button down with my belly and take a picture at the same time. Please ignore the oil that I accidentally streamed all over the lid.)

I store this in a tight container and pull it out often to use over pasta, fresh vegetables, in soups...etc.

Next up...Jill's Pesto Zucchini Noodles!

Yummy!