Aunt Hattie Anne's Green Tomato Pie

[andiesenji]

Aunt Hattie Anne's Green Tomato Pie

Here is the recipe for green tomato pie/marmalade.

This was my great-aunt's recipe, the favorite in our family. She got it from a Shaker society in Kentucky when she visited them for a time in 1925 to exchange herb lore.

She made it in big rectangular cake tins because there were so many of us to feed.

I have cut it down to a manageable size for a single 9 inch pie.

I sometimes add a bit of ginger, either candied or fresh, finely minced and crushed for a bit of a "bite". I have also added Sultanas, or golden raisins when I didn't have quite enough green tomatoes to fill the pie shell. Both variations are very good. You can double the batch and jar it up in 4 pint jars and use it later. It will keep well in the refrigerator for about 3-4 weeks or the freezer for 3-4 months, or longer.

4 cups green tomatoes chopped in bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, freshly ground

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Top & bottom pie crusts

1-1/2 tablespoons butter diced

Directions

First prepare dough for a double-crust 9 inch pie. Chill dough while you are preparing the filling, then roll out the dough while the filling is cooling.

Cut aluminum foil in 2-inch wide lengths, enough to go around the circumference of a 9 inch pie pan.

In a large saucepan combine the chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon peel, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often to keep from burning.

Mix the sugar and cornstarch together and gradually add to tomato mix, stirring constantly. Continue cooking until liquid is clear.

Immediately remove from heat and stir in the butter.

Cool for 15 minutes

Now roll out the dough, line the pan and prick it all over with a fork, sides too, to keep it from blistering.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Pour mixture into the 9-inch pie shell. Cover with top crust and seal the edges so juices will not leak out. Cut several slits in top to allow steam to escape. Fold aluminum foil strips in half lengthwise and crimp all around the edges of the pie to keep crust edges from burning.

Place pie tin on a sheet pan on oven center rack or higher.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or topped with whipped cream CHEESE to which you have added a little sour cream. (You may wonder at this last, but wait until you taste the flavor combination.)

YIELD: 8 servings (or less! - my neighbor's husband likes this so much he takes about a third of a pie for his serving. So I usually make two.)

( RG1657 )