My friend and fellow food writer Angela Knipple cherishes memories of childhood visits to her Great-Uncle Curtis and Great-Aunt Marian's big farm. Perhaps her passion for food, cooking, and sustainable agriculture took root during her summer days in their enormous garden. She loved weeding and harvesting vegetables, and turning her fingers a fabulous shade of purple while picking purple-hull peas. Meals were major delights of homegrown, homecooked goodness, including this beautiful summer squash pie—deliciously creamy, sweet, and a little bit tart. You could use yellow squash instead of zucchini, or do a combination of the two.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes one 9-inch pie
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust, then crimp the edges decoratively.
Step 2
To prepare the zucchini, trim the ends and cut each squash lengthwise into quarters, turning each squash into four long strips. Cut away the pointed edge of each strip, removing and discarding the seeds. Line up the strips and cut each one crosswise into 1/2-inch chunks. You should have about 6 cups of chopped zucchini.
Step 3
In a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring 3/4 cup water to a rolling boil. Add the chopped zucchini, cover, and cook until the zucchini is tender and bright green, softened, but still holding its shape without turning to mush, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain well.
Step 4
In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and salt. Stir with a fork to mix everything well. In a medium bowl, combine the cream, eggs, butter, vanilla, and vinegar. Using a whisk or a fork, stir to combine everything well. Add the sugar mixture and stir to dissolve the dry ingredients and mix everything together into a thick, smooth filling.
Step 5
Transfer the zucchini back to the empty saucepan and mash it to make it as soft and smooth as possible. Drain off any extra liquid that the zucchini releases. Measure it out, so that you have about 2 1/2 cups. Fold the mashed, drained zucchini into the filling and stir to mix everything together well.
Step 6
Pour the filling into the piecrust. Place the pie on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F, and bake until the filling is firm and nicely browned, and a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
Step 7
Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
