Green Tomato Pie

When we picked up our last CSA of the season from Bell Organics he gave us these lovely green tomatoes and told us to check out his green tomato pie recipe.  In both of our minds we were thinking that sounds odd.  We then both assumed that it was savory like our previous heirloom tomato pie, but it was not. In all honesty this is probably the best way to use all those green tomatoes you have left. This pie is much like the apple pies you make around this time of year, but with tomatoes. The texture of the tomatoes isn't odd at all and it surprisingly delicious.  It is sweet and has just the right amount of cinnamon.  You should try this recipe just for the fun of it and enjoy some of the last vegetables of the season, even if they are green!

Filling:

4 cups peeled, cored, and sliced green tomatoes
3 tbl. butter (Winder Farms)
4 tbl. lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 & 1/4 cup sugar
3 tbl. flour (freshly milled)
dash of salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves


Crust:

2 cups flour (freshly milled)
1/4 tsp. salt (Redmond Sea Salt)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup butter or butter flavored shortening (Winder Farms)
1/2 cup cold water

For the crust:
1. Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in the bowl. Cut butter/shortening into the flour mixture with a fork until it resembles cornmeal. Stir in water one tablespoonful at a time and mix until combined. Cover dough and let it rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough in half.  On a lightly floured surface, pat each section into a small round then roll out each to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Place one round in pie pan and trim off excess dough and save second piece for top.
3. Saute the tomatoes in the butter and lemon juice until tender.  Combine tomatoes with sugar, flour, salt and spices. Pour filling into prepared pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Pinch around sides and pierce top with a fork.
4. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce to 350 degrees and bake until crust is brown or about 35-40 more minutes.
5. Let rest 30-45 minutes to let it set before eating.
Options:
--some recipes call for 3 tbl. tapioca flour or quick tapioca. To keep it more local, we just used our freshly milled flour but it was a bit runny when hot out of the oven.