- 18 hours ago
Put a crunchy twist on a Southern classic with this rich and savory summer casserole! In this video, Chef John shows you how to make a Southern tomato Frito pie featuring layers of ripe salted tomatoes, crispy bacon, fresh basil, and corn chips under a bubbly cheese topping.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Southern Tomato Frito Pie.
00:08That's right, we're using Fritos instead of pie crust, which not only is way faster,
00:13but as it turns out, according to me, ended up working way better.
00:17And since this was a first-time experiment, later in the video,
00:21we'll cover a few tweaks we can do to make this even more incredible.
00:24But for now, let's go ahead and get started with the star of the show,
00:28a whole bunch of sweet vine-ripened tomatoes,
00:31which you're going to want to grow yourself or get from a neighbor,
00:34or at least go to the farmer's market and find something really nice.
00:38And to prep these, after we cut a little bit of the skin off the bottom,
00:41we will cut these into some nice thick slices,
00:44at which point we're going to transfer them onto a few layers of paper towels on the counter.
00:48Since one of the secrets to a great tomato pie,
00:51whether you're using Fritos for the crust or not,
00:53is to salt them to draw out extra moisture before we use them to make a pie.
00:59So once we have our tomatoes all laid out in a single layer,
01:02we'll take a couple teaspoons of salt, and we'll sprinkle that over the top.
01:06And you can flip them and do it to both sides,
01:08but I usually just do it to one, and it's fine.
01:11Since we're actually going to let these sit for about 30 minutes,
01:14and if you've never done this before,
01:16I think you're going to be pretty surprised how much water actually gets pulled out.
01:20All right, this shot was taken about halfway through the process,
01:23and they're already looking extremely juicy.
01:26But anyway, while those are sitting there exuding water,
01:29we can go ahead and prep our pan by laying in some Fritos.
01:32And I decided to use the large size, which they call scoops,
01:36although in hindsight, maybe the smaller regular ones would have been better.
01:40And yes, I added two bags, which possibly was too much,
01:43but we'll discuss that later.
01:45And then I proceeded to arrange those in a nice tight layer,
01:49pressing and breaking a few along the way.
01:51And once our Fritos are down,
01:53we'll go ahead and sprinkle some of our cheese over the top.
01:56And I'm using my favorite casserole blend of half cheddar, half Monterey Jack.
02:01And I'm not going to lie, at this point I was getting a little concerned,
02:04since my pan was almost filled, and I still had like four layers to go.
02:08But anyway, as you'll see, it worked out.
02:11And then what we'll do is take the rest of the cheese,
02:13and we'll make our topping by adding some mayonnaise and one beaten egg.
02:18And once those are in, we'll give this a mix.
02:20And we will set that aside for a few minutes until we need it.
02:23And no, not all Southern tomato pie recipes call for the egg,
02:27but I'm a big fan of adding it in,
02:29since I think it benefits the texture and the appearance.
02:32And that's it by now.
02:34Our tomatoes should be ready to be patted dry.
02:37And it's hard to see, but those bottom towels were completely soaked.
02:40And as we flip those towels over on the top,
02:43lots of seeds are going to stick and be removed,
02:46which is sort of an added bonus benefit of this step.
02:49And that's it.
02:50Once our tomatoes are prepped, we can finish assembly.
02:53And for me, that's going to include scattering over one optional ingredient,
02:56a whole bunch of chopped up cooked bacon.
02:59Oh yeah, if you haven't heard, bacon and tomatoes go together very, very well.
03:03And then over the top of that, I sprinkled over some finely diced onions,
03:08which could be a sweet Vidalia onion like I used.
03:11But some freshly sliced green onions would also be a great choice.
03:14And then on top of those, we will add a very generous scattering of basil chiffonade,
03:19which is simply basil leaves rolled up and sliced thin.
03:22And no, this is not an optional ingredient,
03:25since that sweet herbaceousness really is a key here.
03:28And then once that's done, we can go ahead and start laying over our tomatoes,
03:33overlapping them so we get a nice thick layer.
03:36And you guys know me, I'm no food snob.
03:39But for this, those mealy pink supermarket tomatoes just aren't going to cut it.
03:43So I'm going to stress once more, find some actual nice ripe sweet tomatoes.
03:48Otherwise, this is just not going to be as good as it could be.
03:51And once our tomatoes are in, we'll give that a very firm pressing down
03:55before we season the top with some freshly ground black pepper,
03:59as well as a nice sprinkling of dried oregano.
04:02And then we will follow that with another sprinkling of basil,
04:06since you really can't use too much of that here.
04:09Oh, and pro tip, in the summer, a lot of grocery stores actually sell basil plants.
04:13And they're pretty much fully grown and full of leaves.
04:16And they don't cost much more than a few bunches of basil.
04:19And you can just put that in a sunny spot and keep it well watered.
04:23And after that one time purchase, you will have free basil the rest of the summer.
04:27But anyway, once that's down, we'll go ahead and spread over our topping.
04:31And the best method for that, if you're using a thick topping like this,
04:34is to place nice big dollops all over the top.
04:37And then take your spoon and spread it out.
04:40Right, that way it's easier to work with, and you get a nice even layer.
04:44Or if you just dump everything in a pile on the top,
04:46and then try to spread out to the edges.
04:48It might take longer, and not be quite as uniform.
04:52But suit yourself.
04:53And either way, once that's been spread out,
04:56almost all the way out to the edges,
04:58we can top this with a little bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese.
05:02Oh yeah, the real stuff, Parmigiano Reggiano.
05:05Since I just didn't think a pound of cheese was enough.
05:08And once that's on, we could just bake this.
05:10But for a more visually exciting surface,
05:13I saved six tomato slices,
05:15which I'm going to place over,
05:16so those can bake right into the topping.
05:19Although, hang on.
05:21We can't have two brandy wine slices next to each other.
05:24So let me fix that.
05:26And we'll give those a bit of a pressing in.
05:28And then as a final touch,
05:30I'm going to do a little drizzle of olive oil over the tomatoes.
05:33Because why not?
05:35And that's it.
05:36This is now ready to transfer into the center of a 400-degree oven
05:39for about 45 minutes,
05:42until our cheese topping is golden brown,
05:44and it hopefully looks like this.
05:47Oh yes, now that looks very inviting.
05:50And I would like to invite you to eat it right away.
05:52But please don't.
05:54Something like this needs to rest at least 10 to 15 minutes
05:57before we serve up.
05:58And then just to make mine look even more beautiful,
06:01I pinched off seven little adorable basil leaf pears
06:04and placed those over the top.
06:06And then as usual,
06:08I took way too many contractually obligated pictures
06:10before I grabbed a spoon to dig in.
06:14And I was very happy with what I was feeling,
06:16since I was hoping those Fritos on the bottom stayed crunchy.
06:19And as I served this up, I could tell they were.
06:22And after garnishing,
06:23I wasn't quite sure how I was going to attack this.
06:26So I grabbed a fork and a spoon to hedge my bets.
06:29And I went ahead and attempted to take a nice big bite.
06:32And as you'll see,
06:33you can definitely tell the Fritos did stay crunchy,
06:35since I wasn't quite able to stab a fork through it.
06:38And as you'll see,
06:40I'm going to switch to the spoon for the rest of the bites.
06:42But I am totally burying the lead here,
06:45since that, my friends,
06:46really was an incredible combination of taste and textures.
06:49All right, beautiful basil-y baked tomatoes and cheese topping.
06:53And a regular flaky pie crust is fine.
06:55But I have to say,
06:57I really do prefer the texture and the taste of the corn chips,
07:00which did absorb some of the moisture.
07:02So they had very slightly softened,
07:04but they were still nice and crunchy inside.
07:07All right, if you're a fan of chili chiles,
07:09that is kind of similar to what's going on here.
07:12Oh, and the bacon was a great addition.
07:14And the phrase that came to mind when I was eating this
07:17was BLT lasagna.
07:19So for a first-time experiment,
07:21I was extremely thrilled with how this came out.
07:23And I pretty much loved everything about it.
07:26Although objectively speaking,
07:28I probably did use too many Fritos at the bottom.
07:30All right, one bag probably would have been plenty.
07:33And like I said,
07:34maybe the regular size would work even better here.
07:36And with a smaller layer of Fritos at the bottom,
07:39you could probably even sneak in another layer of tomatoes if you wanted.
07:42And maybe that would be the perfect final version.
07:44So I will make some adjustments to the written recipe
07:47and put down what I think is going to give you the best results.
07:50But of course, you're supposed to experiment also.
07:53I mean, you guys are after all the banditos
07:55of what to bake on top of your Fritos.
07:58But whether you put your own spin on this or not,
08:00I thought this was a great success.
08:02And I really do hope you give it a try soon.
08:06So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
08:08a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
08:12And as always, enjoy.
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