Mock Apple Crumb Pie (Made with Zucchini) -- When the Garden Overflows, You Bake a Pie

The zucchini is producing at its July rate now, which means I am harvesting daily and making decisions about what to do with each one before the next one arrives. The zucchini situation in a productive garden is a comedic problem — the fruit that can go from perfect to overwhelming in forty-eight hours, the neighbors who stop answering the door in August, the recipes that exist specifically to absorb volume. I am not defeated by zucchini. I have strategies. Zucchini bread, zucchini fritters, zucchini in the tomato sauce, zucchini roasted to near-caramel sweetness with olive oil and thyme, zucchini raw and thin-sliced in a salad with lemon and parmesan. The vegetable is not the problem. The vegetable is neutral. The only problem is failure of imagination.

I spoke with Sarah about the summer visit schedule. They are coming the last week of July, arriving the twenty-ninth, and staying through the twenty-third of August. Teddy turns seventeen on August eleventh during the visit, and Finn's scrambled egg lesson will happen sometime in the first week they are here. Teddy has informed his mother he wants to do a collaborative dinner with me sometime during the visit — something with multiple courses that we plan and cook together. I told Sarah I was entirely in favor of this and to tell him to think about what he wanted to cook and we would talk through it when they arrived.

The tomato plants need caging attention this week — the Cherokee Purples especially have outgrown their first tier of cages and the canes are falling sideways. I spent two hours Saturday morning tying and reorienting the plants, a task that requires the patience of a puzzle: each cane has to be encouraged into the cage structure without breaking, and the weight of the developing fruit means some canes need additional support beyond the cage. The Brandywines are always the most labor-intensive in this regard, large plants with large fruit. You are essentially managing something that wants to fall over and has every physical reason to do so. The harvest justifies it completely.

When Teddy and Finn arrive at the end of July, the zucchini situation will be at full tilt — and I can already picture serving this at the end of whatever collaborative dinner Teddy and I put together, watching everyone take a bite before I tell them what’s actually in it. The garden that overwhelms you in August has a way of demanding ingenuity, and a pie that looks like apple but tastes like apple and is secretly zucchini feels like exactly the kind of trick a productive summer deserves. Failure of imagination is the only real problem, and this recipe is proof of that.

Mock Apple Crumb Pie (Made with Zucchini)

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• 4 cups zucchini, peeled, seeded, and sliced into 1/4-inch half-moons
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• Crumb Topping:
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Fit the unbaked pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate, crimp the edges, and set aside.
2. Prepare the filling. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sliced zucchini, sugar, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine and cook for 8–10 minutes, until the zucchini has softened slightly and released some liquid. The mixture should smell remarkably like cooked apples.
3. Fill the crust. Pour the zucchini filling into the prepared pie crust, spreading it into an even layer. Dot the top with the small pieces of butter.
4. Make the crumb topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces and work them in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse, clumpy crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.
5. Top and bake. Scatter the crumb topping evenly over the zucchini filling. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45–50 minutes, until the crumb topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.
6. Cool before slicing. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. This allows the filling to set and makes for cleaner slices. Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you like.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 320 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 160mg