An excellent and unusual dessert, this is a modified (read – crunchified) version of a recipe for green tomato pie from Brian Yarvin’s the too many tomatoes cookbook which was too intriguing not to try.  The result has become a family favourite which we indulge in annually, when the fall crops grow to excess and frost threatens.

Yield: an 8’’x8’’ pan

What you need for the filling:

• 3 cups chopped green tomatoes
• 3 medium apples, chopped
• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (fruit-juice sweetened preferred)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons palm or coconut sugar
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot
• 1 tablespoon amaranth or teff (optional)
• 1/2’’ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• juice of 1/2 a lemon

What you need for the crumple topping:

• 1 cups rolled oat, old-fashioned if possible
• 3/4 cup whole-grain flour
• 1 tablespoon amaranth or teff (optional)
• 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar or Sucanat (turbinado gives a crunchier texture)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil

What you do :

1. Preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8’’ x 8’’ glass or ceramic baking dish.
2. In the baking dish, toss together all the filling ingredients until the raisins (or cranberries) and dry ingredients are evenly-distributed throughout.
3. In a bowl, mix together the rolled oats, flour, amaranth and sugar. Cut in the coconut oil using two knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture is made up of coarse even crumbs throughout.
4. Distribute the crumb mixture over the top of the filling, pressing down a bit as you go and aiming for an even thickness of crumb topping throughout.
5. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before serving – with non-dairy ice cream for a really decadent treat.