Green Tomato Mincemeat Fried Pies

Mincemeat filling made from the early season OR late-season green tomatoes. This filling may be used with any fried pie recipe.

• Preparation Time: 45 mins
• Cooking Time: 60 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins
• Calories: 383 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup butter flavored shortening
• ⅓ cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 pounds green tomatoes
• 3 cups cold water, divided
• 3 pounds tart apples - peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 ½ pounds raisins
• 3 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
• 3 ½ teaspoons salt
• 3 cups shortening for frying

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Coarsely chop the tomatoes. Place in a colander and, pressing with your hand, squeeze out as much tomato juice as you can. Transfer tomatoes to a large saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; remove from heat and drain well.

Step 2

Return tomatoes to saucepan with 1 cup of cold water, bring to a boil; drain again.

Step 3

Place tomatoes back in the saucepan with remaining cup of water, apples, raisins, brown sugar, 3 1/2 teaspoons salt, vinegar, and 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening. Cook slowly over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are transparent, about 30 minutes.

Step 4

In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon rind and juice. Remove mincemeat from heat and set aside to cool.

Step 5

For the Pastry: In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt ,and shortening. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough barely holds together. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 6

Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thick on floured surface. Cut a 5-inch circle, place a large spoonful of filling on one half of the circle. Fold over and seal the edges by pressing them with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.

Step 7

In a large heavy skillet, heat shortening to 360 degrees F (182 degrees C). Carefully place 4 pies in the hot shortening. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining pies.