So it’s the end of the summer garden, and you still have tomatoes on the vine; however, they are not ripening. Being Dutch, I cannot stand to waste anything, so what to do? Green Tomato Pie. It’s easy, it’s tasty, and it’s thrifty.

You can use any kind of tomato: yellow, red, purple; so long as they are green. I pulled the plants to make way for a winter garden and then pulled off the green tomatoes, trying to get the medium sized ones. You will need four cups of thinly sliced tomatoes for one pie. Green tomato pie tastes like a cross between apple and mince pie so it might
make an interesting, surprising substitute for traditional Thanksgiving pie.

Green tomato pie. (photo by Susan Christiansen)

Green Tomato Pie

Pastry for 9 inch pie (top and bottom)
½ c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
5 tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. Nutmeg
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
4 c. thinly sliced green tomatoes
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. Grated lemon peel
1 tbsp. Butter

Mix sugars, flour and spices. Arrange a layer of tomato slices on the bottom of pie shell. Sprinkle with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sugar mixture. Continue alternating layers until the pie shell is full. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture on top and dot with butter. Sprinkle lemon juice and rind on top. Put top crust on and bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes or until brown.