I took it as a high complement that I reminded them of Ma, especially since they don’t always like my concoctions, and because my son refused to even try it when he found out it had zucchini in it. (I told him if he didn’t want to eat what I was serving, he could choose to eat nothing. So he did. At 17, if he wants to be stubborn, he can make that choice. The girls all told him afterwards it was absolutely delicious and tasted just like apple pie. So there.)
So here’s the recipe. (Yes, I try to limit white sugar in the house, but hey, it has 8 cups of zucchini! That has to be good for them!) Try it, then comment! I’m feeling lonely without comments.
Zucchini "Apple" Pie
1 ¼ c. sugar
1 ½ Tbs flour
1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs lemon juice
8 cups zucchini, peeled, seeded, and sliced (I sliced them to look like apple slices)
Cook the zucchini in 2-3 cups of water until they turn opaque, 10-15 min. This is the most important step. My slices were no more than ¼ inch thick, and I cooked them until they cut easily with a fork and had no white look left to them. You don’t want them mushy, since they are going to cook more in the pie, but if you don’t cook them enough now, they will not fool anyone in the pie. It’ll still taste good, but not like apple. Once cooked, pour into a colander, drain, and cool. Put into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and pour into an unbaked pie crust. Dot with butter and add the top crust. (I always cut vents in the top crust, and cut little crosses to bless the food. My paternal grandmother always blessed her bread dough as a prayer that it would rise and as a prayer for those it would feed. So nice. I also brush the top with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar.) Put tinfoil just around the edges of the pie crust, bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Then remove the tinfoil, lower the temperature to 350, and cook another 35 minutes. Your pie will be a masterpiece! (Some time I’ll give you my pie crust recipe, but this post is long enough!)