Heirloom Tomato and Polenta Pie

Note: You will need to make your polenta crust at least 2 hours in advance, so that it has adequate time to chill. In my case, I made it the night before to make assembly time of about 10 minutes the next day.

Place water, olive oil, salt, and dry basil into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, slowly pour polenta into the pot while continuously whisking to prevent unpleasant clumping. Once combined, turn heat down to low and continue to cook while stirring every few minutes until mixture becomes thick. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

Lightly coat a jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with oil. Pour polenta onto the pan and spread it out in a fairly round shape large enough to cut your pie crust out of, but not so large that you end up wasting a lot of polenta. Allow to cool for about 1 hour and then chill itfor at least 1 hour before assembling the heirloom pie.

After polenta has chilled, find something round, whether it be a bowl or a cake tin, to use as a guide to cutt out your round pie shape. Place it on top of the polenta and cut around the edges with a knife as if you’re tracing. Transfer to whatever plate or cake stand you plan to serve it on.

Spread a layer of farmer’s cheese over the polenta and then drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Cut heirlooms into 1/4-inch slices and arrange them however you wish over your pie. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.