Green Tomato Week: Have Some Pie!

If you have green tomatoes on hand, you’re already in the green tomato pie game. The big question is this: do you like deep dish pie plates or or standard depth? The amount of green tomatoes you will need will depend on whether you want to bake this in a deep plate, a standard pie plate or in mini patty-pan trays.

This recipe only calls for pastry lining the bottom so make half your normal shortcrust (or piecrust, for those of you in the States) batch.

Line your pie dish. Then make your crumb topping.  This is a simple ratio of 4:4:4 of butter, flour and sugar.  You can use white flour, spelt or wholemeal wheat flour. You can use white sugar or light brown sugar. Mix up the crumb topping with you fingers as if you were making pastry. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bit lumpy either. Kids love this job. Play with the flavors and flours until you find the one your family likes best. It’s a forgiving topping recipe.

Take a quantity of raisins or sultanas (say 1-2 oz.) and put them in a small bowl. Pour some boiling water over them and set them aside to plump up.

While the raisins soak, chop up an apple and place it in the pie dish.  Now start chopping up those green tomatoes!  Once the dish is full you need to dust the mix filling with cinnamon.  You can be generous. Cinnamon is a great neutraliser of tomato tartness.  If your apples are a bit tart you may want to just sprinkle a little bit of sugar over the mixture too. You won’t need more than a tablespoon of sugar for a deep dish pie.

If you choose, sprinkle in a pinch of nutmeg and dried ginger powder. They add richness, and if your family likes those flavors in other dishes, they will like them here.  If you have some left over pumpkin pie spice in the cupboard that will work, too!

Now bake in your hot oven at 200° C, (350°F) for about 30 minutes depending upon your oven. Check at 25 minutes. Or let your nose lead you.  Once you’ve started baking your nose will begin to let you know when the oven says ‘done’; it’s far more reliable then any timer. When the crust is golden brown and the tomatoes are tender, it’s done. Remove the oven, and serve warm.