Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie Recipe

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie

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Every bit as delicious as traditional mincemeat pies, but a bit less boozy.

Southern Living Test Kitchen

Updated on February 21, 2023

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie — Photo: Alison Miksch

Active Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Total Time:

7 hrs 55 mins

Servings:

When tobacco and textiles ruled the South, mincemeat pie was the crown jewel of holiday celebrations. The boozy, heavily spiced, fruit-and-meat fillings preserved meat without smoking or salting.

Meatless "mince" pies made with ingredients like sweet potatoes were popular too. In the 1800s, Mrs. Abby Fisher, of What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking fame, stirred a half gallon each of sherry and brandy into her big-batch recipe.

Ingredients

Mincemeat Filling

2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium), peeled and chopped (about 5 1/4cups)
1 1/2 pounds green tomatoes (about 3 medium), seeded and diced
1 (6-oz.) pkg. sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons orange zest (from 3 small oranges)
1 tablespoon apple pie spice
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Crust

3 cups (about 12 3/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 oz.) cold salted butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold shortening, cubed
8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Prepare the Mincemeat Filling:

Bring apples, tomatoes, cranberries, bourbon, zest, apple pie spice, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium-high, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring often, until thickened, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool completely, about 1 hour. Stir in pecans. (Mixture can be made and chilled up to 3 days ahead without pecans. Stir in toasted pecans just before spooning mincemeat into piecrust.)
Prepare the Crust:

Stir together flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut butter and shortening cubes into flour mixture until mixture resembles small peas. Using a fork, gradually stir in 8 tablespoons ice water, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened and dough begins to form a ball and pulls away from sides of bowl, adding up to 2 tablespoons more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary. Turn dough out onto a work surface; divide in half. Shape and flatten each dough half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill 1 to 24 hours.
Chill and prep pie dough:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Unwrap 1 chilled dough disk, and place on a lightly floured surface. Let dough stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle dough with flour, and roll into a 13-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Spoon Mincemeat Filling into piecrust. Brush edge of piecrust with some of the beaten egg.
Make a decorative crust:

Unwrap remaining chilled dough disk, and place on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle dough with flour, and roll into a 12-inch circle. Leaving a 3-inch border around edges, cut out and remove leaf shapes from middle of dough circle using a small (about 1 1/2-inch) maple leaf-shaped cutter. Brush top crust with some of the beaten egg, and carefully place over Mincemeat Filling. Press edges of bottom and top crusts together to seal, and trim excess even with rim of pie plate. Make small diagonal cuts into dough around piecrust edge at 1/2-inch intervals, making small tabs. Gently place every other tab on adjacent tab so that it slightly overlaps. Brush leaf cut-outs with remaining beaten egg, and place decoratively on top of piecrust. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake, then cool:

Bake in preheated oven on bottom oven rack until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, shielding with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning, if necessary, and rotating pie halfway (on same rack) after 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely, about 3 hours.

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the Mincemeat Filling:

Prepare the Crust:

Chill and prep pie dough:

Make a decorative crust:

Bake, then cool:

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