Fried Green Tomato and Pimento Cheese Slab Pie
 
 
A fried green tomato and pimento cheese slab pie is the perfect way to use up any end-of-season tomato stragglers!
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients
For the Ritz cracker crust
  • 60 Ritz crackers (225 g)
  • 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
For the filling
  • 1.5 cups (440 g) pimento cheese spread
  • 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
  • ½ cup (69 g) stone-ground cornmeal
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3 medium (750 g) green tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch slices
  • 3 cups peanut or vegetable oil
Instructions
For the crust
  1. Heat oven to 350F.
  2. Pulse the Ritz crackers in a food processor to form coarse crumbs. Pour into a large bowl and add the room temperature butter. Mix the butter into the Ritz crackers with your hands, kneading it until it comes together and the crumbs are thoroughly coated.
  3. Pour the crumbs into a quarter sheet pan and press them evenly across the bottom of the pan, tamping them down with a measuring cup.
  4. Place into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browed. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
For the filling
  1. Set the pimento cheese aside to rest at room temperature while you prepare the fried green tomatoes.
  2. Divide the flour into two shallow bowls. Pour the cornmeal into one of the bowls with the flour. Crack the eggs into a third shallow bowl and whisk to combine. Divide the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper among the three bowls.
  3. Pat the tomato slices dry with a paper towel. Dredge a tomato slice in flour, turning it to coat it on both sides, and then drop it into the egg mixture. Coat the tomato on both sides with the egg, then drop into the cornmeal-flour mixture. Coat it on both sides with the cornmeal-flour mixture. Shake off any excess and set aside until ready to fry. Repeat with the remaining tomato slices.
  4. When ready to fry, pour the oil into a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Heat to 375F. When its ready add the tomatoes to the oil in batches of 3 or 4 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden. Repeat until all of the tomato slices are fried.
  5. Set the broiler to high.
  6. When ready to bake the pie, spread 1 cup of the room temperature pimento cheese across the cooled crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Top with the tomatoes. Use the remaining ½ cup of pimento cheese to place a small dollop on each of the tomato slices.
  7. Place in the oven and broil until the cheese is bubbling, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Recipe from Pie Squared
Recipe by Joanne Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2021/09/fried-green-tomato-and-pimento-cheese-slab-pie.html