Rustic Italian Tomato Quiche

I got the idea for this recipe off of Whole Foods Market web site. But their recipe used a whole-wheat pie crust (blech), fat-free ricotta (blech), and sliced tomatoes with the seeds and juice in them (stupid.) I have found that de-seeding the tomatoes makes a much better quiche, because if you keep the seeds and juice in, all the water rises to the top and makes it runny and weird. So even though it seems dumb to de-seed the tomatoe slices, it makes a way better quiche in the end. This recipe is a little more labor intesive than most of my other recipes, but it is soooooo good! It makes the PERFECT "company's coming over" brunch dish. Oh, by the way, this is the one I made for Sarah's baby shower. Yummy!

Rustic Italian Tomato Quiche

• 2 pre-made deep dish pie crusts
• 3 large tomatoes, or 5 roma tomates
  
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 sm. plastic herb container of fresh Basil, or 1 small bunch, leaves pulled from stem and washed
  
• 2 cups shredded parmesan, mozzarella, or provolone cheese, or all 3 (I like to use an Italian 3 cheese shredded blend)

Bake pie crusts according to package directions. Remove from oven the turn oven to 375 to pre-heat for quiches. Set aside until ready to fill. Slice tomatoes about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Carefully push seeds and juice out using a knife, or just your fingers. It's okay if you don't get all the stuff out, just as much as you can. Lay tomatoes out on a large cutting board or cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt. This will help draw out excess moisture as well. While tomatoes are de-juicing, prepare filling. In a blender or food processor, combine ricotta cheese, basil leaves, and eggs. Puree until basil is finely minced. Mixture will be somewhat green, depending on how fresh the basil is. Set mixture aside. Pat tomatoes dry with paper towels. Line each pie crust bottom with one layer of tomatoes. Spread about 1/3 cup ricotta filling on top of tomatoes, spread to edge using a small spoon. Sprinkle with a small handful of cheese. Repeat layers until ingredients are used up. I like to place a few more tomatoes on the very top and then sprinkle with a tiny bit of shredded parmesan, it looks so pretty that way. Place both quiches on a baking sheet, and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Quiche will be slighly golden and puffy. You will know if quiche is done if you insert a knife, and it will come out mostly clean, but it's still probably done if the knife comes out with some ricotta bits and some moisture. Remove from oven and let sit about 20 minutes before serving. You can also make the quiche the night before and serve it cold for brunch. It's good either hot or cold. It will also keep in the refrigerator for several days.