Peach-Tomato Pie
SERVES 8
The Pennsylvania Dutch have been cooking peaches and tomatoes together since the 1850s, enjoying the many varieties of available tomatoes, especially the yellow and orange ones. The amount of sugar you use depends on the type and sweetness of the peaches, so you will want to adjust the sugar according to taste. Some cooks put a cinnamon stick in the pie rather than using the ground spice. The cinnamon stick flavors the pie without discoloring the peaches. The Pennsylvania Dutch also make a dumpling-type dough for the top crust, which rises during baking and absorbs some of the juice. But a short pastry crust works well too.
Short Pastry Crust
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsweetened butter, softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cups pastry flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 5 ½ cups peeled, sliced peaches
- 4 cups tomatoes, seeded and sliced into strips
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- ½ cup coarsely chopped prunes or dried apricots
- Shredded zest of ½ lemon
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 to 3 ½ Tbs. potato starch or tapioca starch
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon or nutmeg
- ⅛ cup fresh lime juice
- Sugar for garnish
at a glance
