Arugula, Ricotta, Cream Cheese and Parmesan Pie with Heirloom Tomatoes

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option. Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out. It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing. The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

I keep throwing softballs like this out there to you kids. Softballs in that the recipe is easy & the result delicious. When, oh when, will you trust me & try one?

This one is almost like a quiche but uses no eggs or heavy cream. I suppose it can be made vegan – if you can find vegan alternatives to the dairy ingredients. I used three colors of heirloom tomatoes but any tomatoes would work, even cherry tomatoes, I suspect. I used a packaged, raw pastry dough but you can make your own if your prefer. HERE is a recipe for dough that I included in my Savory Three Mushroom & Kale Pie, seen just below.

The ingredients & instructions lists are short so, if you like tomatoes & arugula & a light but creamy entree – why not give this one a try?
Arugula, Ricotta, Cream Cheese & Parmesan Heirloom Tomato Pie

INGREDIENTS

Pie crust – uncooked

3 heirloom (or other) tomatoes – sliced thin

2 cups fresh arugula

2 cloves garlic

15 oz fresh ricotta – or vegan alternative

4 oz cream cheese – or vegan alternative

S&P

1 cup Parmesan – grated – or vegan alternative

Basil – as garnish

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Press the dough into a greased pie or tart pan. A traditional pie dish is absolutely OK to use – as is a spring form pan. Slit the crust at the bottom and par-bake it for 7 minutes.

Put the sliced tomatoes on paper towels, salt them & press more paper towels on top. If your tomatoes are very wet & seedy, squeeze some of the seeds out to avoid excess moisture in the pie. You can see that I did this with my red tomatoes.

Meanwhile, blend the ricotta, cream cheese, arugula & garlic in a blender or food processor. Season with S&P.

When the crust has baked 7 minutes, top with the cup of grated Parmesan, the ricotta mix & the drained tomatoes. Add some S&P.

Bake for 45-60 minutes – or until the ricotta is set. You might need to wrap the edges of your pie with foil (or one of these cool silicone things – the red thing below – that I got at Bed Bath & Beyond) to prevent the crust from over-browning.

Depending on how deep your crust and/or pan might be – it is possible that you will have leftovers of the ricotta filling. If you do – hang onto it. Don’t overfill the crust or you run the risk of the tomatoes slipping off while cooking. I will post a pizza recipe tomorrow that uses the ricotta filling.