Wanda's Green Tomato Pie in a Cornmeal Crust

If you're a gardener, you know that fall usually brings with it a healthy crop of green tomatoes, picked before the first freeze destroys them.  Green tomatoes are ubiquitous at farmers' markets, too, and fried green tomatoes are a popular way to prepare them, a favorite in Emilie's own family.  For a fabulous Southern meal-and a heart attack-try fried green tomatoes topped with sausage gravy and garnished with dollops of sour cream.

Wanda prefers her green tomatoes in pie shells made with a little cornmeal, but Wanda just loves anything to do with pie. She hopes you'll love this one, too.

Cornmeal Pie Crust (makes two):

2 cups white flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal (finely ground is best)

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

½ tsp. grated lemon zest (the yellow part of the rind-think organic lemons)

2 sticks of cold butter

½ cup of ice water-but you may not need it all

Place dry ingredients and lemon rind in your food processor and briefly mix.

Add butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand.

Add ice water in a thin, slow stream until the dough just holds together. 

Remove dough and separate into two equal portions.  At this point you can wrap each in plastic wrap and flatten into a circle.  Refrigerate wrapped for at least an hour or no more than a day-freeze if you'll be using it later.

Roll out one section of dough for the bottom crust.  The top can either be a lattice, made by rolling dough and cutting and weaving strips, or a solid top with holes cut for ventilation. 

Green Tomato Filling:

½ cup sugar

2 tsps white flour

1 tsp grated lemon zest (see above)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

4 cups peeled and thinly sliced green tomatoes

3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Butter

Mix sugar, flour, zest and spices.

Lightly sprinkle mixture on prepared crust, then layer tomatoes, a little lemon juice, dots of butter and more sugar mixture.  Continue layering until ingredients are gone.  Top with lattice or well ventilated pie crust.

Bake at 350 for 45".  Check frequently toward the end and if the edges of the crust are getting too brown, make a ring of aluminum foil to cover and protect.

The filling will thicken as it cools, but it's best served in bowls-topped with vanilla ice cream.