Pasticcio di Gorgonzola e Pomodori: Cheese and Tomato Pie

It had to happen. I’ve been cooking all those “Sale e Pepe” recipes and appreciating the heck out of them, but after a while I get the itch to make my own. I even bought provisions to make another one of the translated recipes, but these other things were calling, calling, calling my name. Well, this will be the last one for a while because I just can’t keep on eating all these delicious tarts. I am starting to think of salad as the ultimate luxury food.

Looks pretty good, eh? It is. Here is how to get there.

Tomato and Blue Cheese Pie or Pasticcio di Gorgonzola e Pomodori

Serves 6
Preheat oven to 200°C or 400°F

8 ounces of pizza or bread dough—mine was homemade this time, but readymade is fine
9 small tomatoes, peeeled and partly juiced
3 tablespoons chives cut small (or dried and reconstituted with water)
1 cup or 8 ounces weight mascarpone
¾ teaspoon salt
1 egg
100 g or 3 ½ ounces sharp blue cheese cut in small cubes of 1 cm or ¼”
olive oil for the pan

Boil some water and put the tomatoes into it for a minute or so, then remove to cold water. The skin should come off very easily with a paring knife. Use the knife to remove the stem/core and then cut a shallow cross inside the tomato, and upend it squeezing gently to get rid of some of the water.

Use a whisk to beat the egg, 2 tablespoons of chives and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the mascarpone, then stir in the tiny cubes of cheese.

Press out a circle with the dough and use it to line an oiled pan of about 9” or 23 cm in diameter—I used a cake tin again. Scatter about a tablespoon of chives over the bottom, then arrange the tomatoes like the picture. Sprinkle them with the remaining salt. Pour the filling over all, perhaps being more careful than I about coating the tomatoes. Make sure the cheese gets to all parts, because if you just pour it, the liquid part will go everywhere, but the cheese will remain pretty much in the center. Cover the edges with foil so they won’t become too hard in the cooking.

Bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes and test by inserting a table knife near the center. It should come out clean when the pie is done. Remove the foil and allow the pie to cool a few minutes so the center will be firm.

It’s rich and bursting with flavor with contrasts between the sweet tomatoes and the salty and cheesy filling. I really liked the yeasty taste of the dough against the Mascarpone and Gorgonzola cream. I might make this again in September when the tomatoes are still very good, but the nights are colder and something like this will feel so good. I think it will make a nice antipasto for a long supper for guests or a centerpiece with salad for a smaller meal.

The recipe I made (yesterday) for the pastry was 500 g or 1 pound plain flour, a largeish teaspoon of salt, a packet of dried yeast, 1 tablespoon of good olive oil and 1.5 cups (375 ml) warm water. This makes enough for a large pizza and this pie crust. I used my hands to press it out on a floury Silpat and there were only scraps remaining after it was put in the pan and trimmed.

As usual, I saved a piece for you.

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