Mildred Natwick’s Tomato Pie

Mildred’s pie surprised me by being really good! I love it when a pie does that!

It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t look very interesting on paper but makes you raise your eyebrows when you eat it. I used a mixture of cherry tomatoes and larger ones and served it for lunch with my friend Lady Jane (not a real lady). We both really enjoyed it and felt like proper ladies who lunch.

Putting mayonnaise on top of a pie sounded weird to me, but it turned out to be delicious. I had a squeezy bottle of mayo, so I drizzled it over the top as though it was Okonomiyaki.

It looked pretty cool. I think Mildred would have approved.

I recommend making this when tomato season is at its peak, and they are at their tastiest.

But baking or roasting tomatoes always makes them tastier IMHO so if your tomatoes are a bit rubbish, it’s still worth making a pie out of them.

Getting Bisquick here in the UK is nigh on impossible, so I used this recipe to make my own. It’s easy to do, but make sure you grease the pan generously. My buttery Bisquick base stuck a bit, so I’ll go heavy on the greasing next time I make it. Bring on tomato season again!

Mildred Natwick’s Tomato Pie

2 cups Bisquick*

⅔ cup milk

2 lbs tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Chives

Basil

Grated onion

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

Press the mixed Bisquick and milk into a greased pie pan. Fill the cavity with the sliced tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, chives, basil and grated onion. Top with grated cheese and mayonnaise.

This will DEFINITELY be going in the Cooking the Detective book. Mildred is in one of my absolute favourite detective shows, The Snoop Sisters. If you have never seen it, seek it out!