What to do with your leftover or unripe fall harvest...

my CSA green tomatoes

Fall is definitely in full swing, and I love it! There are so many great things about fall...enjoying the crisp air, bundling up with cozy sweaters and warm drinks, harvesting the fruits of your labor on hot summer days in your garden...and of course enjoying the fall recipes that celebrate your ripe and (hopefully) plentiful harvest!

Sometimes, however, it gets cold pretty quickly and your vegetables don't have time or the warmth to ripen before frost sets in, but don't despair! There are still some beloved recipes that safely use unripened vegetables that are delicious and one-of-a-kind, specific to the fall season, such as this one below! You don't have to let your vegetables go to waste!

Since my balcony harvest was very minimal due to the scaffolding that I've mentioned before, I had asked my CSA if they would at all be able to get me a few pounds of green tomatoes to make this recipe that I miss every fall,making sure to explain that they are just unripe red tomatoes. They asked their farmers and my wish was granted, so a recent delivery included some green tomatoes that I used for this pie (otherwise unable to find and purchase here anywhere...)! This is a simple and delicious recipe (one of my fall favs!) very similar to my mom's version...for those who are skeptical, it really doesn't taste like tomatoes, it has it's own mild flavor. If you're from the southern States, you probably have had fried green tomatoes before and this is nothing new to you!

green tomato pie

Green Tomato Pie

Pastry for 9-inch pie (top and bottom)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 c. thinly sliced green tomatoes
1 tbsp. white vinegar or 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 or 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 rind and vinegar on top. Put top crust on, cut slits in the top crust for ventilation, and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until brown (the ingredients start to bubble out of the slits). Optional: add a crust protector or put foil over the outer edge of the crust for the last 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent the crust from burning.

yum, yum, yuuuuuummmm!

Enjoy!