was for supper last night and on a whim, I added a bunch of bacon that I sauteed till crisp. If you like tomato pie, and can afford bacon (health wise) every now and then, you can't go wrong adding it to a tomato pie.

Tomato Pie.

Ingredients

1 9-inch pie shell (see pie crust recipe for homemade version)

1/2 yellow or red onion, chopped

3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped, to yield approximately 3 cups chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced basil (about 8 leaves)*

2 cups grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozarella)

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

*To slice basil, chiffonade them by stacking the leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, starting at one end slice the "cigar" crosswise in thin slices.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350ðF. Place pie shell in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes or longer until lightly golden. If you are starting with a frozen crust, you'll need to cook it a little longer. If you are using a homemade crust, freeze the crust first, then line the crust with aluminum foil and pre-bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

2 Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes, using either paper towels, a clean dish towel, or a potato ricer.

3 Sprinkle the bottom of the pre-cooked pie shell with chopped onion. Spread the chopped tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the sliced basil over the tomatoes.

4 In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, Tabasco, a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball. Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

5 Place in oven and bake until browned and bubbly, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes.

Serves 6.