Inaugural Post: Green Tomato Pie

In light of the Blog's name, the first post obviously must be a pie recipe. And not just any pie recipe, a weird pie recipe.

This summer (and into the fall) we've been getting a share of vegetables and fruits from a local CSA. We got a full share, rather than a half share, which has sometimes lead to an overabundance of vegetables. Usually this is nice (you can never have too many cucumbers when you're making pickles!) but sometimes this leads to having a refrigerator full of things that you have no idea how to eat. And what to do when faced with a large quantity of strange vegetables or fruits? Obviously the answer is google.

So when the CSA gave us a million pounds of green tomatoes (note: green as in unripe--not the other, also awesome, green heirloom tomatoes which taste like ripe tomatoes--these tomatoes are hard and sour!) the internet's answer (aside from frying) seemed to be pie. I think pie is the answer to a lot of problems.

There are a few Green Tomato Pie recipes on the internet, but I did what I usually do: I looked at the recipes and then didn't really follow any of them. In anticipation of this blog post, I actually measured what I added, which I usually don't do very precisely, because otherwise I wouldn't be writing much of a recipe! So, without further ado, Lisa's version of Green Tomato Pie:

Green Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

2 crusts worth of pie crust (any kind, store-bought is easiest! but when I make my own I like to use half butter and half shortening)

Filling:

about 6-10 green tomatoes (depending on size, enough to make 8 cups when sliced)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

lemon zest

about 1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

large pinch of kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400F. Bake 20 minutes at 400F, then reduce to 350F.

First, slice the tomatoes into smallish pieces, no more than 1/4" thick. You want to end up with enough to fill your pie plate about level with the sides, but not much higher--the tomatoes won't reduce in volume after baking the way apples do. I used a 9-inch deep dish pie plate, and 8 cups of tomatoes were exactly perfect. Some recipes say to blanch the tomatoes and remove the skins, but I'm much too lazy to do that.

Mix the lemon juice and lemon zest in with the tomatoes. I didn't add the lemon zest this time, but I think it is worth putting it in if you have a lemon handy.

Next, add the sugar, corn starch, flour, salt, and cinnamon. I like to mix the dry ingredients together on top before mixing them in with the tomatoes. My tomatoes seemed extra liquidy, so I added an extra tablespoon of flour, but I think it would have been fine without it.

Next, put the filling into the pie crust. Try to spoon the tomatoes in so that they lay flat in nice layers, so there aren't too many gaps. Dot the top with butter, and lay the second crust on top.

Now you need to crimp the two crusts together. It's particularly important to make a tight seal for this pie, because the filling tends to be very liquidy and try to boil out of the pie plate--and you don't want to have to clean sticky burnt-on gunk off of your oven! I like to recruit someone who doesn't have long fingernails to complete this step for me. Poke some slits in the top crust using a sharp knife, to let out steam. I try to make a pretty pattern, and try not to get too close to the edges of the crust.

Finally: Bake! I baked the pie for 20 minutes at 400F, then about an hour at 350. Green tomatoes are pretty hard, so they need to cook for a long time if you don't want your pie to be too crunchy. It basically needs to bake for at least another half an hour or so past the point where you can really see the filling bubbling like crazy. Overcooking shouldn't be a problem, so err on the side of longer cooking times. If the crust starts to get done, you can cover the edges with a pie shield or some aluminum foil. I would also recommend putting a cookie sheet and/or additional aluminum foil underneath the pie plate to catch any drips.

After you take the pie out of the oven, let it cool completely! In my opinion this pie tastes much better cold. Yes, it is strange and scary and green, and yes, it tastes sort of odd. I was really skeptical at first, but the taste definitely grew on me--to the point where I was hoping we would get more green tomatoes so I could make another pie! That being said, all green tomatoes are not alike. Make sure you're not getting heirloom tomatoes. The best type of green tomatoes for this pie are really light green, unripe-looking tomatoes. If you taste them, they should be sour rather than bitter or tomato-y. Overall it's a sort of strange pie--I think the closest comparison is probably rhubarb pie--and the green color is kind of bizarre, but I personally find it very delicious. And "Tomato Pie" makes it sound vaguely nutritious (forget about all that sugar....) when eaten as my favorite sort of meal: Pie for Breakfast!