I received this recipe from Evelyn, an 87-year-old gardener in Kentucky, who recently moved from her farm to an apartment in town. Before her move, she grew tomatoes up until the time the deer took over, eating everything in sight!
She discovered this pie back in the 1950s and has made it each fall ever since. It is perfect for using end of the season green tomatoes that don’t have enough time left to fully ripen.
It has a sweet flavor as opposed to the savory tomato pie that I shared with you a few weeks ago. and it sure is good!
I followed her suggestion and sliced an extra 2 cups of tomatoes to freeze for making another pie this winter.
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 4 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 double pie crust top and bottom (top and bottom)
Instructions
- Begin by washing, peeling and thinly slicing the tomatoes.
- In a medium to large sized sauce pan combine tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt, and cinnamon. Cook these ingredients over a medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often to evenly cook the tomatoes.
- Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add this to the tomatoes and continue to cook until the mixture thickens, about 5 to 8 minutes. It is important to stir this constantly while cooking to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The end product is a gelatinous, green filling that may not look so appealing, but trust me will taste divine!
- Remove the tomatoes from the stove top, stir in the butter until it melts and then allow the mixture to cool slightly.
- Pour the filling into a 9 inch pie pan lined with a crust.
- Now add the top crust. Evelyn prefers strips, but you can use a solid top crust as well. If you do, just remember to make a few slits in the crust for ventilation with a knife.
- Bake the pie in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 25 minutes.