I love the fall. There are many, many reasons why, but perhaps the most important reason is the food. It is harvest time and the markets are full of roots and squashes (which if you know me are some of my favorite foods!)
October has Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en which are some very awesome holidays in my opinion. One because it is a celebration based purely on gratitude and community. The other because it’s about costumes and the darker side of life. And what food epitomizes October better than the pumpkin!
Here is by far my favorite version of pumpkin pie. I have tested many in my life, and have tinkered and tweaked until I found the perfect balance between ‘good for you’ and friggin delicious. Healthy, potentially vegan if you so choose, and so flavourful you won’t even know you’re not eating conventional and crappy store-bought pie. This version includes how to use an actual pie pumpkin, but you can used canned in a pinch
PS, you’re welcome 🙂
Step 1: Preparing the pumpkin:
Make sure you have a pie pumpkin, which are smaller, sweeter, and smoother in texture than pumpkins meant for carving. A 6″-8″ pumpkin should do for one pie.
-Preheat oven at 350 F
-wash the exterior of the pumpkin, cut in half and scoop out the seeds (save them for roasting!) and ensure there is no stringy ‘guts’ left inside.
– Take a baking dish, put an inch of water in the bottom and place the pumpkins hollow side down in the dish.
-Bake for 45-60 minutes (until tender) (While it bakes, you can move on to Step 2: Making the Crust
-When the pumpkin is tender, remove from the oven and allow it to cool before you scoop all the ‘meat’ out into a medium bowl.
-Puree the pumpkin mush!
Step 2: Making the Crust
This is a recipe given to me by a dear friend. It is truly delicious and flaky. It makes enough for two crusts in a 9″ pie pan (you can freeze the other half of the dough and use it another time, or double the pumpkin filling recipe and make two pies!)
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups flour (spelt, or whole wheat or whatever you fancy)
- 1 cup ground flax
- 1 1/4 cup COLD butter, cut into small cubes (Or coconut oil for a vegan version
- zest of 1 lemon or lime
- plenty of cinnam0n
- 2 large eggs, beaten, with a splash of nut/soy/conventional milk
-Put a big bowl in the freezer
-Once cold, sift in about half of the flour and flax
-Using your hands, work the cubes of butter/coconut oil into the flour and flax by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture
-Add the rest of the flour and flax, lemon/lime zest, and cinnamon
-Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough (Don’t work the pastry too much or it will become chewy and elastic, not crumbly)
-then pat it into a flat round
-Flour it lightly, place it in a bowl, and keep in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes
After it has chilled:
-Split the dough in half
-Flour your workspace and roll half into a circle to fit your pie baking pan (an 8-9″ pie pan, deep dish preferably so you can fit a lot of filling!)
-Butter the pie baking pan, and then arrange the flattened dough onto it
-Put your filling into the centre of the dough (See Step 3: Pumpkin Pie Filling and Step 4: Bringing It All Together)
*NOTE: When making the pie crust, try to be as quick and confident as possible, so that the butter doesn’t melt, and you end up with a nice flaky crust. A good trick is to make sure your hands are cold by running them under cold water first*
Step 3: Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 15-oz can)
- 1 cup milk (unsweetened soy, almond, or coconut for vegan alternatives)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
- 1 egg (or 1 Tbsp psyllium husk, or 2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch for vegan alternatives)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
I See You, RN 