[00:01] Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Southern Tomato Frito Pie. That's right, we're using Fritos instead of pie crust, which not only is way faster,
[00:13] but as it turns out, according to me, ended up working way better. And since this was a first-time experiment, later in the video, we'll cover a few tweaks we can do to make this even more incredible.
[00:25] But for now, let's go ahead and get started with the star of the show, a whole bunch of sweet vine ripened tomatoes which you're going to want to grow yourself or get from a neighbor or at least go to the farmers market and find something really nice.
[00:38] And to prep these after we cut a little bit of the skin off the bottom we will cut these into some nice thick slices at which point we're going to transfer them onto a few layers of paper towels on the counter. Since one of the secrets to a great tomato pie whether you're using fritos for the crust
[00:53] or not is to salt them to draw out extra moisture before we use them to make a pie. So once we have our tomatoes all laid out in a single layer, we'll take a couple teaspoons of salt and we'll sprinkle that over the top.
[01:06] And you can flip them and do it to both sides, but I usually just do it to one and it's fine. Since we're actually going to let these sit for about 30 minutes, and if you've never done this before, I think you're going to be pretty surprised how much water actually
[01:19] gets pulled out. This shot was taken about halfway through the process, and they're already looking extremely juicy. But anyway, while those are sitting there exuding water, we can go ahead and prep our pan by laying in some Fritos.
[01:33] And I decided to use the large size, which they call scoops, although in hindsight, maybe the smaller regular ones would have been better. And yes, I added two bags, which possibly was too much, but we'll discuss that later.
[01:46] And then I proceeded to arrange those in a nice tight layer, pressing and breaking a few along the way. And once our Fritos are down, we'll go ahead and sprinkle some of our cheese over the top. And I'm using my favorite casserole blend of half cheddar, half Monterey Jacks.
[02:00] And I not going to lie at this point I was getting a little concerned since my pan was almost filled and I still had like four layers to go But anyway as you see it worked out And then what we do is take the rest of the cheese and we make our topping by adding some mayonnaise and one beaten egg
[02:18] And once those are in, we'll give this a mix and we will set that aside for a few minutes until we need it. And no, not all southern tomato pie recipes call for the egg, but I'm a big fan of adding it in since I think it benefits the texture and the appearance.
[02:33] And that's it by now. Our tomatoes should be ready to be patted dry. And it's hard to see, but those bottom towels were completely soaked. And as we flip those towels over on the top, lots of seeds are going to stick and be removed,
[02:46] which is sort of an added bonus benefit of this step. And that's it. Once our tomatoes are prepped, we can finish assembly. And for me, that's going to include scattering over one optional ingredient, a whole bunch of chopped up cooked bacon.
[03:00] Oh, yeah, if you haven't heard, Bacon and tomatoes go together very, very well. And then over the top of that, I sprinkled over some finely diced onions, which could be a sweet Vidalia onion like I used, but some freshly sliced green onions would also be a great choice.
[03:15] And then on top of those, we will add a very generous scattering of basil chiffonade, which is simply basil leaves rolled up and sliced thin. And no, this is not an optional ingredient, since that sweet herbaceousness really is a key here.
[03:28] And then once that's done, we can go ahead and start laying over our tomatoes, overlapping them so we get a nice thick layer. And you guys know me, I'm no food snob, but for this, those nearly pink supermarket
[03:42] tomatoes just aren't going to cut it. So I'm going to press once more, find some nice ripe sweet tomatoes, otherwise this is just not going to be as good as it could be. And once our tomatoes are in, we'll give that a very firm pressing down, before we
[03:56] We season the top with some freshly ground black pepper as well as a nice sprinkling of dried oregano. And then we will follow that with another sprinkling of basil since you really can't use too much of that here.
[04:09] Oh and pro tip in the summer a lot of grocery stores actually sell basil plants and they are pretty much fully grown and full of leaves and they don cost much more than a few bunches of basil and you can just put that in a sunny spot and keep it well watered,
[04:23] and after that one-time purchase, you will have free basil the rest of the summer. But anyway, once that's down, we'll go ahead and spread over our topping, and the best method for that, if you're using a thick topping like this,
[04:35] is to place nice big dollops all over the top, and then take your spoon and spread it out. Right, that way it's easier to work with and you get a nice even layer. Or if you just dump everything in a pile on the top and then try to spread out to the edges,
[04:49] it might take longer and not be quite as uniform. But suit yourself. And either way, once that's been spread out, almost all the way out to the edges, we can top this with a little bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese.
[05:02] Oh yeah, the real stuff, Parmigiano-Reggiano. since I just didn't think a pound of cheese was enough. And once that's on, we could just bake this, but for a more visually exciting surface, I save six tomato slices,
[05:15] which I'm going to place over so those can bake right into the toppings. Although, hang on, we can't have two brandy wine slices next to each other. So let me fix that, and we'll give those a bit of a pressing in.
[05:29] And then as a final touch, I'm going to do a little drizzle of olive oil over the tomatoes, because why not? And that's it. This is now ready to transfer into the center of a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes
[05:42] until our cheese topping is golden brown and it hopefully looks like this. Oh yes, now that looks very inviting and I would like to invite you to eat it right away but please don't.
[05:54] Something like this needs to rest at least 10 to 15 minutes before we serve up and then just to make mine look even more beautiful I pinched out seven little adorable basil leaf pears and placed those over the top.
[06:06] And then as usual, I took way too many contractually obligated pictures before I grabbed a spoon to dig in. And I was very happy with what I was feeling since I was hoping those Fritos on the bottom stayed crunchy And as I served this up I could tell they were And after garnishing I wasn quite sure how I was going to attack this So I grabbed a fork and a spoon to hedge my bets
[06:29] And I went ahead and attempted to take a nice big bite. And as you'll see, you can definitely tell the Fritos did stay crunchy, since I wasn't quite able to stab a fork through it. And as you'll see, I'm going to switch to the spoon for the rest of the bites.
[06:42] But I am totally burying the lead here, since that, my friends, really was an incredible combination of taste and textures. All right, beautiful basil-y baked tomatoes and cheese topping, and a regular flaky pie crust is fine.
[06:56] But I have to say, I really do prefer the texture and the taste of the corn chips, which did absorb some of the moisture, so they very slightly softened, but they were still nice and crunchy inside. All right, if you're a fan of chili chiles, that is kind of similar to what's going on here.
[07:12] Oh, and the bacon was a great addition, and the phrase that came to mind when I was eating this was BLT lasagna. So for a first-time experiment, I was extremely thrilled with how this came out,
[07:24] and I pretty much loved everything about it. Although, objectively speaking, I probably did use too many Fritos at the bottom. All right, one bag probably would have been plenty, and like I said, maybe the regular size would work even better here.
[07:36] And with a smaller layer of Fritos at the bottom, You could probably even sneak in another layer of tomatoes if you wanted And maybe that would be the perfect final version So I will make some adjustments to the written recipe And put down what I think is going to give you the best results
[07:50] But of course you're supposed to experiment also I mean you guys are after all the banditos Of what to bake on top of your fritos But whether you put your own spin on this or not I thought this was a great success
[08:02] And I really do hope you give it a try soon So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts A printable written recipe, my friends, so as you will. And as always, enjoy.