I have LOTS of tomatoes and basil these days!

Moving my garden close to the back door -

In pots to keep the chipmunks OUT was a great decision!

Y'all know how I LOVE tomatoes!

And combined with basil - oh my!

 So I decided to make a tomato pie - another FAVORITE summer recipe of mine --

My quick recipe was given to me from a sweet co-worker 

who lives even further south than I do - 

 And it's super easy...

 Just spread a little mayo in the bottom of a pie crust, top with basil leaves 

[She lays her out in a pretty pattern - 

but I roll mine and clip into small shreds with my kitchen shears...] 

Then slice tomatoes on top of the basil

 [I did push most of the seeds out in hopes 

that it wouldn't be as drippy in the end...]

 And add shaved parmesan cheese -  

all over the top.

Bake about 30 minutes on 375* - 400* - 

I covered it with foil so the crust wouldn't burn...

DELISH.

[Note - I am NOT a food stylist -

 and I gave up 'perfection' about 27 years ago - ha.

But I DID garnish it with some fresh basil leaves 

and tomato 'chips' that I'd dehydrated a week or so ago - ]

While that was baking I whipped up some pesto 

[I have an abundance of basil at the moment -]

I use bottled garlic, walnuts, basil, and olive oil... 

Here's what it REALLY looks like before I turn on my little processor:

 I stuff it as FULL as possible with basil - 

then pulse it several times, until it looks something like this:

I add in a little olive oil between pulses, 

and also a bit of parmesan cheese...

Of course I use a little salt and pepper - 

and olive oil again until it's the consistency I want it to be --

 Again, a summer favorite of mine - I can eat it with pasta, 

or just on toasted Italian bread...

or just straight up by itself...

[I know I'm not typical.]

Yum.

So that was done... and the tomato pie was still baking -

and I had pie crust left over --

Time for a quick apple tart -

I pulled out my favorite iron baking dish 

[I'm sure I've shared with y'all that it is hand-forged and belonged to my gr-gr-gr-grandmother - 

I love it 

 - and remember taking it to school in 2nd grade as a show and tell...] 

and got to work -

I pressed the dough into a flat circle and crinkling the edges just a bit - then I added sliced apples that had been brushed with a little lemon juice - 

and topped it with brown sugar and a bit of butter.

I put it in the oven with the tomato pie and baked until the apples were cooked through 

and the crust was nice and brown.

Again, delicious.

And none of this was much trouble at all.

The pesto freezes well if you don't want to eat it right away... 

And the pies...

well, I doubt there'll be any left to freeze.

I've found some recipes that are SIMILAR to mine - 

they're on my pinterest board if you want to take a look - 

I'd love to see what's cooking in your kitchen!