I’m not sure anyone will want to replicate this dish, but here’s what I did, in case you want to tweak it to improve upon it.
For the record, I usually don’t post iffy recipes, but this was still yummy, so I’m doing it anyway. Just note the errors I made along the way and how you can possibly prevent them.
Starting with the crust.
Are you kidding me Immaculate Baking Co?? I followed the directions for using their pie crusts to a “t” and as you can see from the above, I may as well have made my own. It was like a (not fun at all) puzzle trying to piece the dough together to make a crust, but in the end I conquered!
Because I’m crafty. Next time, I’ll either make my own (I know it’s easy but I don’t have all the extra time in the world) or buy a different brand. I recommend you do the same, because the main problem in this dish was the uneven and weak crust.
It made half the servings look like this…
More like a tomato & millet scramble than a pie, ya know?
Second issue was with the tomatoes.
Gorgeous as they were, I should have removed most or all of the juice. I kinda knew this deep down, but it seemed so sad! such a waste. Until I read the August Bon Appétit and learned all the things to do with tomato juice. Now I know!
So those were the main things I wanted to caution you guys about. Now for the recipe process.
Savory Tomato & Millet Pie [vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options*]
Ingredients:
- 1/2 of a 9” pie crust
- 3/4 c uncooked millet (cooked yields ~1 1/4 cup)
- 10 basil leaves, chiffonaded
- 2-3 large tomatoes, sliced (and drained of liquid)
- 2 cups goat’s milk kefir*
- 2 T fresh chevre* (I used Redwood Hill Farm roasted chile chevre)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Directions:
Cook millet and let cool. Then combine with most of the kefir (reserving a bit to drizzle on top) and basil until mixed.
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Press the pie crust into an ungreased pan, poke fork holes in it, and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Once the crust is done, add the millet/kefir/basil, followed by layers of tomato slices. Press them down into the millet so it’s more densely packed. Pour the rest of the kefir over the tomato and millet and top with chunks of chevre, salt & pepper.
Bake for 30-25 minutes on 350 degrees F.
The roasted chile chevre has a kick to it!
Notes:
For a vegan version, use coconut kefir or another non-dairy milk in place of the goat’s milk and omit the chevre. Perhaps mix nutritional yeast into the millet for a cheesy flavor as well.
For a gluten free version, use a gluten free crust. Immaculate Baking Co makes one but I’m not a fan. Feel free to leave recs in the comments section.
We ate almost all of it, but froze the last slice so we wouldn’t get sick of it.
I don’t know how much of the tomato juice you wanted to remove, but one easy way to reduce liquid is to slice the tomato ahead of time & lay flat on a plate with a paper towel under, and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Let sit for a while 10-15 minutes and much of the liquid will leech out. Dab the top with another paper towel to dry. It’s not “all” the juice but it’s a great way to reduce before using fresh tomatoes in baking – pizza, casseroles, etc..
This recipe sounds delicious! Pretty lame about the crust though–that definitely looks like it was a pain in the butt to piece together!
I’ve been mentioning to my husband about making a tomato pie with all of them in our garden but all the recipes call for mayo. I’ll definitely try this.
two things:
1. I laughed out loud at your pie crust puzzle paragraph – hilarious.
2. I’m glad youre making good use of my Bon Appetite subscriptions 🙂
See you in a couple of days!!!! xo
What a bummer about the crust! I use that brand often and have never had a problem like that. I wonder if it was just a bad package? The pie itself looks good though, and I love that you post ideas and processes as well as real recipes because it helps me get ideas 🙂
It looks like Cook’s Country rated Immaculate Baking Co’s pie crust as their least favorite due to its “rancid” and “deadly aftertaste.” However, on a better note, they have a list of 7 other products which beat out this brand 🙂
http://www.cookscountry.com/taste-tests/Ready-Made-Pie-Crusts-Taste-Test-Cook-s-Country/41476/
You were quite the puzzle queen growing up and it finally came in handy!
thanks for the link stacey – none of them seem perfect but i guess thats the problem with store bought. nothing from the grocery shelf will be as good as home-made. ive used the wholly wholesome ones before i think? or maybe it was arrowhead mills. either way ill shop around next time.
Since i am anti-pie crust (yeah, weird i know) i usually buy a tube of pre made polenta, heat it, pour into pie pan and partially prebake crust alone before adding fillings. The corn flavor is great with savory fillings and the polenta is fool proof
thats such a clever idea!