Pumpkin Pie From Scratch
Okay, this isn’t entirely from scratch because I’m recommending that you buy the crust ready made from the store, so really it’s just the filling we’ll be focusing on. You can use a graham cracker crust, which is usually in the baking section of the store and won’t need to be precooked, or you can use a pastry crust, which is usually in the frozen isle and will probably need to be baked for 15 or 20 minutes without the filling to start off. Both these choices are available in vegan options, but they probably won’t mention it on the packaging because they’re not vegan by design, but just because it’s cheaper for the producer to swap out the butter for vegetable oil.
This recipe is intended for use with the Candy Roaster pumpkin in your box this week, which is a very sweet variety. If you are using another kind of pumpkin, or canned pumpkin that doesn’t have as much natural sugar, you’ll need to add a 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the list of ingredients below.
Ingredients
1 pie crust of your choice, either graham based or pastry based.
3 cups pureed pumpkin (instructions for cooking and pureeing below)
1 cup coconut milk or other nut milk of your choice. If you’re not vegan and want to go the more traditional route, swap this for 3/4 cup of condensed milk.
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp Corn Starch
Pumpkin Cooking Instructions
You have two choices here. You can just cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise and lie it cut side down on a baking sheet to cook and then scrape the flesh out after cooking. However, the Candy Roaster has quite a thin skin and it can be a bit tricky to get all the flesh away without breaking off bits and pieces. My preferred option is to peel this particular pumpkin first with a potato peeler and then cube it before roasting. Whatever your choice, remove the seeds, lightly oil the pumpkin, put the oven on to 400 F and roast for about 30 minutes.
The result should be really soft flesh that will easily puree in a food processor into a smooth, creamy consistency. A food processor is usually easier than a blender because pumpkin flesh is quite thick and dry, so if you only have a blender you’ll have to scrape the sides down every few seconds. A potato masher might be a better option if you don’t have a food processor.
Pie Filling Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F
Once your pumpkin is roasted and pureed, measure out all the ingredients for the filling into a food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy (about 30 or 40 seconds)
Pour the filling mixture into the pie crust. Check the instructions on the pie crust first to see if it recommends precooking without the filling. Pie crusts come in various different depths and you might find if you purchased a shallower crust that you have more filling than you need. In this case, just freeze the excess in a Tupperware and add it to the next batch.
Bake on the middle oven shelf for 1 hour. The center of the pie should still be wobbly but not wet to the touch on the surface. If you press the back of a spoon or the flat side of a knife very gently onto the surface of the pie and the filling sticks to the silverware, then put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Chill the pie overnight in the fridge. It won’t firm up completely until it’s been chilled, so you do need to make it ahead of time if you’re planning for a specific meal.
Any extra pureed pumpkin you have left over will last a couple of weeks in the fridge or can be frozen for future use. It makes a great soup, or can be used to thicken up my kale and mushroom risotto.