The Miss likes tomatoes.  In fact, they’re my favorite vegetable/fruit, my go-to ingredient, my bright red, tangy, savory, juicy muse. I’ve grown impatient waiting for the itty bitty baby plants in my garden to bear their fruits and fill my salad bowl, so I trekked on over to the Farmer’s Market and stocked up on some super bright greenhouse tomatoes and some lovely fresh eggs.  Then I emptied out the produce drawers in my refrigerator and magic happened.

Be forewarned:  this is a delicious and beautiful vegetable-packed pie that does demand a bit of your time.  Don’t expect to throw this together in less than 30 minutes….but do expect to enjoy every succulent bite!

The ingredients. Awesome colors.

Pesto Vegetable Pie

Pie crust for 1 single-crust pie (Can use store-bought)
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tbsp. salt
2-4 small potatoes (I used purple potatoes – so pretty!)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups fresh spinach
2 tbsp. pesto
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

To keep this pie from going soggy, you’ll need to get the tomatoes ready in advance.  Chop the tomatoes.  Remove seeds and discard.  Transfer tomatoes to a strainer and sprinkle liberally with salt.  Store salted tomatoes in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  The salt will help draw out extra moisture.

Preheat your oven to 375°.

To prepare the potatoes, scrub them, cover them in cold salted water and bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Boil about 6 minutes.  Remove from boiling water and allow to cool.  Once cooled, slice those potatoes VERY thin.

Break eggs into a small mixing bowl.  Whisk in pesto and milk, beating well.

I love how fresh eggs have such bright yellow yolks!

Press your pie crust into a LARGE pie pan….or an oval casserole like I did.  Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the pie crust and bake 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and begin the layering.  Make sure to layer in this order – the veggies add a lot of moisture to this pie and the order of layers is strategic!  Start with a light sprinkling of cheese.

Add a layer of onions and mushrooms.

And then the spinach and bell peppers.

Now pour about 1/2 of the egg mixture over these layers.  Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of cheese on top of that.  Then, add the layer of salted tomatoes.

Pour the remaining egg mixture over the tomatoes.  Layer potato slices last.  Artistic license encouraged.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until egg sets.  I love how the potatoes come out a little crispy after baking.  YUM.