Meat Mitch Smoked Tomato Pie Stuffed with Pimento Cheese

Prep & Cooking time: 4.5 hours

Preheat oven to 400.

Make pie crust:
Pulse flour, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in food processor until combined. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until butter and shortening are pea size pieces, about 5 times. Drizzle in buttermilk, processing until dough begins to just come together. Gather and lightly knead dough into a ball on a large piece of plastic wrap; flatten into disk and wrap tightly. Chill at least 2 hours.

Roll chilled dough on a floured surface into a 13-14-inch circle about 1/3 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Trim edges leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold edges under and crimp. Freeze dough at least 20 minutes.

Line pie crust with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 400°F 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake until edges are golden and bottom of crust is set, about 8 more minutes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Slice tomatoes 1/2" thick. Arrange tomatoes on a wire rack set on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Bake until wilted and slightly dried, 35-40 min. Cool.

While pie crust cools, cook bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add chopped shallots and cook until bacon is crisp (6-7 min). Stir in garlic, cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain fat and cool.

Stir together Pimento Cheese, Dijon, egg, basil, chives(reserve 1 tsp each of basil and chives). Fold in cooled bacon mixture.

Gently spread 1/3 of cheese mixture onto the cooled pie crust. Place a layer of tomatoes, and sprinkle 1 TBSP of toasted breadcrumbs. Repeat 1/3 of cheese mixture, tomatoes, and breadcrumbs, 2 more times, (gently pressing with each layer) ending with 3rd layer of tomatoes.

Lightly brush top layer with olive oil, and bake at 400 for 45-55 minutes. If the crust becomes too brown, cover edges with aluminum foil.

Remove pie from oven and top with remaining basil and chives. Let pie stand for 1 hour before serving.