The Foodie Files

Contrary to what reality television would have you believe, there's a very real reason New Jersey is called 'The Garden State'.  The area where I grew up is part of that reason.  Call it nostalgia if you want (though I prefer to call it extremely good taste), but I firmly believe some of the best produce in the world comes from New Jersey.  Throughout my childhood- and even now as an adult- my favorite of that produce has always been Jersey sweet corn and tomatoes.  There's just nothing like it!  So when my roommate mentioned a recipe she came across for a savory corn and tomato pie, my ears perked up real fast.  Since I'll be up north for the first few weeks of July, I wanted to test kitchen it now so as not to waste valuable Jersey goodness on a sub par meal.  I switched out a few ingredients and changed up some of the measurements from the original recipe but the resulting pie was delicious!  It would be fabulous in a brunch setting but honestly worked great as the main dish when I whipped it up the other night.  It just tasted like summer to me...mmMmm....so good.  And bonus, it's completely vegetarian (which has become increasingly important to me as the number of vegetarians in my life keeps increasing.  Pray for them.  Kidding.  But seriously).

Ingredients:

6 medium tomatoes (I used an 'on the vine' variety)
3-4 ears of sweet corn (depending on size)
3 TBS fresh basil, chopped
1 3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 TBS fresh lemon juice

2 sheets pie crust (I used Trader Joe's Brand)
2 TBSP melted butter for brushing on the crust

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk Greek yogurt and lemon juice together and set aside.

Slice the tomatoes into approximately 1/4 inch slices.

Cut corn off the cob.

Secure the bottom layer of your pie crust in place and add half of your tomatoes, corn, basil and cheese one layer at a time.

Salt and pepper to taste then repeat this process, adding the remaining ingredients one layer at a time.  Drizzle the Greek yogurt and lemon mixture over the pie, then add the top layer of crust.

Cut a vent in the center of the pie, then brush with butter.  Bake for 35 minutes at 400 degrees.  And there you have it!  Easy as pie.