Name: Summer Tomato Basil Pie
Prep time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 store bought (frozen pie crust); 2 medium tomatoes or 4 roma tomatoes; 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil (chopped); 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped); 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (8 oz); ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese; ¾ cup mayonnaise; Pinch of salt; A few turns of freshly ground pepper.; 

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The combination of tomato and basil is quintessential summer. Add a store bought pie crust, some garlic, grated cheeses and mayo and you’ve got yourself a summer tomato basil pie. I make this recipe often enough that it's one of the dishes on my "Go-to" summertime meals list.

I was an adult (in my early 20s) before I would eat tomatoes with any regularity. So parents, as Anna and I like to say, just keep offering. (You can read more about picky eating in this post). Eventually, your child might try that food you've been wanting them to eat. Neither of my children like tomatoes. But they love this pie. They eat around the tomatoes. Maybe someday they'll eat them!

Just because your child might not like tomatoes, don’t let that steer you away from making this simple and tasty pie the next time you're hungry for delicious ripe tomatoes and sweet basil. Serve it with corn on the cob and green beans; or sliced watermelon and a mixed green salad. The pie tastes great warm or room temperature.

The recipe is adapted from a recipe my mother-in-law cut out of a newspaper many, many years ago. The recipe calls for a store bought pie crust, otherwise I wouldn't make it nearly as often. As a former professional baker, before I had kids, I might have even scoffed at the idea of using a store bought crust. It wasn’t until I had kids that I became a fan. Who has time to make their own pie crust on a weeknight?! Not me! I typically just buy whatever frozen crust is in the freezer section wherever I happen to be grocery shopping.

Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork before par baking it. You can also line the bottom of the pie crust with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with dried beans or rice to par bake it.

Sprinkle cheese in the bottom of the par baked crust

After the crust is par baked according to the manufacturer instructions, sprinkle the bottom of the pie with ½ cup grated mozzarella.

While the crust par bakes, slice the tomatoes into 1 inch wedges; chop the basil and garlic, and mix together the remaining grated mozzarella, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Layer the tomato wedges on top of the cheese. Then sprinkle the tomatoes with the chopped garlic and basil.