Must-Make: BLT Pie

In struggling with what to make for my potluck supper, I thought of Michael Ruhlman's BLT Challenge in which the winner creates a flow chart to describe how he locally sourced all the ingredients for his sandwich. I wanted to use up a great big yellow beefsteak tomato that had come out of my garden and I love bacon, so a BLT seemed like a great potluck dish. Except that it isn't. I didn't even want to think about how to serve BLT sandwiches to fifty people.

But another contest winner, in the category of Best BLT Interpretation, is the writer of Feeding Maybelle. And she had the perfect BLT dish to take to a potluck: BLT pie, a riff on a traditional tomato pie.


Maybelle's mom raves about how good this pie is, and I cannot agree with her enough. This pie is so good, you must make it immediately. OK, just soon will suffice. But it is very rich, so beware the cheese OD!


To begin, make a cheddar cheese crust following Gourmet Magazine's recipe. Place in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

Slice 4-5 medium tomatoes and place in a colander to drain.


Sautee 4 to 5 slices of bacon and set aside (you may think it's a good idea to cook up 10 pieces, like I did, but be careful. You risk making your dish too rich to eat a lot of - and you'll want to eat a lot of it).

In the bacon grease, sautee until caramelized one medium onion, thinly sliced. Add 2 1/2 cups chopped hearty greens (use your imagination, I had kale and Swiss chard).


Roll our your pie crust into a 9" pie pan, and fill with greens and onions, topped by chopped bacon, and then the tomatoes. Mix together 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, and a handful of chopped basil. Layer on top of pie filling and cover with second half of pie crust.


Cook at 375*F for 35-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool, serve, and enjoy the heck out of.