Southern Tomato Pie

I bastardized this recipe by using Pillsbury pie dough for the crust.  I have been wanting to make this for quite some time or rather, I've been wanting to eat this for quite some time.  Since I know there will be nowhere in my town to indulge on it and I won't be in North Carolina any time soon, I decided to try it.  I've enjoyed watching chef Vivian Howard on "A Chef's Life" on PBS and have become a fan.  One day I would really like to try one of her restaurants as my favorite food is Southern...

I bought the tomatoes below for the "non-roasted" part of the dish.

I always find them very sweet and delicious and figured they'd work well.  I washed them, cut them into quarters and then tossed with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and sugar.  I left them to sit in the colander.

I sliced a large sweet onion thinly and put it into a fry pan with Becel margarine and some extra virgin olive oil to start browning.

I blind baked the pie dough after putting fork holes into it for 10 minutes at 400°F.  Below is before:

Below is after:

I had some heirloom Beefsteak and Roma tomatoes.  I diced them.  I tossed them with olive oil, S&P, fresh thyme and basil.

I poured them onto a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the oven for 60 minutes.  Recipe said 30 - 35 but that's how long it took for me and I left the oven temperature the same.  I had to drain some liquid off a couple of times too.

The onions were caramelized nicely.

I sliced the last Roma tomato into slices and patted it dry on paper towels.  I mixed all the ingredients together with some more basil, S&P and another half teaspoon of sugar.  I poured it into the pie crust.

I mixed the mayo and grated cheeses next.  I used Hellman's mayo. I grated some fresh Parmesan Reggiano and Danish Fontina.

I topped the tomatoes with this.

I layered the sliced Roma over the cheese mixture and put it back in the oven for 35 minutes.  I had the heat at 375°F this time.   I would have liked mine more browned and cooked like the recipe photo, but my crust was done!  I had to take it out.

I took it out, let it rest for 30 minutes and garnished with the remaining fresh basil.

Oh my....this was just sooooooooooo heavenly!  All the flavors melded well and it was an almost balanced sweet & salty combination - a little more salty than sweet though.  I will say that it was very rich rich as well - maybe it was the mayo?  That surprised me, actually.  I guess I was expecting it to be "light".  I really enjoyed it and I  think it was the caramelized onions that made the dish a star.