Aunt Marian's Summer Squash Custard Pie |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 9 |
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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 piedeliciously creamy, sweet, and a little bit tart. You could use yellow squash instead of zucchini, or do a combination of the two. Ingredients:
pastry for a 9-inch single-crust pie, such as barry maiden's butter/shortening piecrust |
6 medium zucchini or yellow squash (about 1 1/2 pounds) |
3/4 cup sugar |
1 tablespoon cornstarch |
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg |
1/4 teaspoon salt |
1/2 cup heavy cream |
3 eggs, beaten well |
1/4 cup butter, melted |
1 teaspoon vanilla extract |
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar |
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust, then crimp the edges decoratively.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
8. From Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan by Nancie McDermott. Text copyright © 2010 by Nancie McDermott; photographs © 2010 by Leigh Beisch. Published by Chronicle Books LLC.
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