The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks pie is a dessert, but this cherry tomato recipe will change anyone’s mind. Cherry tomatoes are so fresh, and since I grow them myself I always have a few extra to add to different recipes. On top of that, adding fresh basil and spinach into the mix it provides great servings of vegetables into my daily diet.
Here is a fresh spin on a recipe perfect to serve during those hot summer days!
Required ingredients to serve 4 to 6 people:
– 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
– 5 tbsp. butter
– ½ cup Reduced Fat Parmesan cheese
– 1 egg yolk
– 1 tbsp. light balsamic vinaigrette dressing
– 2 tbsp. cold water
– 2 cups reduced fat feta cheese
– 1 cup black olives (chopped)
– 1 cup organic spinach
– 3 tbsp basil (chopped)
– 1 lb of cherry tomatoes
– 1 tbsp. olive oil
– dash of fresh ground pepper and salt
Directions
To start please preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Next, tackling the pie dough is how to start this recipe. Place flour, dash of salt, and 4 tbsp. butter in a large bowl and mold together until a good mixture is formed without it being all together. Next, add Parmesan cheese and stir. Add in egg yolk and cold water to the flour mixture. Start to knead for about 6 minutes. Then cover bowl and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. If this is too time consuming buying a pie crust is always a good idea!
Next, mix together feta cheese, olives, basil, spinach and 1 tbsp. of with vinaigrette dressing, set aside. It’s now time to butter and flour a large rectangular pan. Take the pan and add 1 tbsp. of butter to the bottom and run over entire pan. Next, take a few dashes of flour and coat pan. Roll out dough and plan in pan. Prick all over with a fork to make pie crust rise evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes, in the fridge.
Next, take pie crust and place in oven for about 9 minutes. Ideally the pie crust will be golden brown, make sure to check every two minutes to not overcook. Now, add feta mixture all over bottom of pie crust. Add tomatoes on top of this mixture. Drizzle the 1 tbsp. of olive oil over top of tomatoes and hit with dash of ground pepper. Finally, place back in over for about 14 minutes until the skins have burst and the tomatoes are a little bit shriveled.
Tips:
1. A great alternative to making the pie crust is a store bought one. A great alternative is Wholly Whomesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shells. It is always great to add that extra wheat to anyone’s diet.
2. Fresh organic spinach may not be available, but the frozen variety will do. Just be sure to dry out the spinach well before putting in recipe.
3. If whole wheat flour is not an option, all purpose flour will be fine.
4. Make sure to remove pits from black olives and chop well.
5. Saving calories for summer is great, and that’s where the low fat cheese comes into play. Sometimes a full fat version might be in your refrigerator so you may use that as well.
