I really considered calling this a Coach Tomato-lin Pie. Or a Tom(lin)ato Pie. As much as I wanted it to fit, I just couldn't stomach the poor play on words and didn't want a goofy name to undercut this delicious dish. So, in the tradition of our fearless Head Coach, we'll keep it no nonsense. No "splash" recipes. "It is what it is."
Head Coach Mike Tomlin is well known in Steeler Nation (and especially in the Pittsburgh-broadcasting area) for being very diplomatic, though sometimes a little cryptic and obtuse in press conferences. Fans have become well acquainted with "Tomlinisms" during his tenure. I know my brother, Josh, is well versed in Tomlinese, so I asked him for a run down of his favorites:
"The standard is the standard."
"Position flexibility"
"Get back in the lab and get back to work."
Linguistics aside, Tomlin is only the third Steelers head coach in the past 43 years, and has already made some pretty impressive accomplishments in his first five seasons with the team. Of course, he became the youngest head coach to both compete in and win a Super Bowl in 2009 (XLIII). He also led the Steelers to two conference titles and three division titles in his first four seasons. He also keeps me company at work everyday.
AND, it just so happens that our favorite coach joined twitter today. You can follow him on the handle @CoachTomlin. His first tweet?
Perfect.
"If the tomato's ripe, it's ready for picking." "Get back in the kitchen and get back to baking." "Cheese or no cheese, pie is pie." That's what I imagine Coach Tomlin would have to say about today's recipe.
This is my take on my mom, Kathy's recipe. It falls somewhere between super deep dish pizza pie and a tomato-topped quiche (but we dare not call it a quiche, because then none of the Boyd men would eat it). Here's a Kathyism - "We call it 'Tomato Pie,' and everyone likes it just fine."
We're going to use the same pastry crust recipe as in the Heath (Miller) Bar Toll House Pie, and just like I said last time, it's totally A-OKAY if you prefer to pick up a pre-made, roll-out pie dough from the freezer aisle at Giant Iggle.
Oh, and P.S. TRAINING CAMP STARTED TODAY!! Did you think I forgot? In the words of my dad - Happy New (Steelers) Year!
Coach Tomlin Tomato Cheese Pie
A Stiller Nation Snacks N'at original
For the crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening/Crisco
1 egg, beatten
2 tbps cold water
1/2 tbsp white vinegar
For the filling
1-2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
3/4 cup parmesan, grated
6 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Gradually mix shortening into flour until it resembles a course meal.* Beat egg in a small bowl and pour onto flour/shortening. Add cold water, vinegar and gently stir together until dough comes together. If it appears too wet or sticky, add a little flour until it is workable, though you may not need to.
Flour a sheet of parchment, form dough into a ball, place on parchment and gently flatten with your palm. Roll dough with rolling pin from the center, outward, until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Carefully place in pie plate. Form to fit the plate, pinch edges and trim any excess. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place tomato slices on paper towel-lined plates to absorb excess moisture while you slice and chop mozzarella, onion, scallions and thyme. Layer tomatoes, parmesan, scallions, basil, onion, more parmesan, thyme, oregano, mozzarella, more tomatoes and MORE parmesan in pie crust. Whisk together beaten eggs, milk, mustard powder and paprika in small bowl. Pour egg mixture over layers in pie plate. Bake for 1 hour. Slice and serve!
* If you recall, last time I used two butter knives in the absence of a pastry cutter. THIS time, I used a beater from my hand mixer to work the shortening into the flour. I just mashed the shortening into the flour and stirred it around until I acheived the "coarse meal" I was after (in only a few minutes). This worked much better and was faster too!
