Pumpkin Pie

First published Aug 14, 2012

Pumpkin Pie is largely a North American tradition.  Not sure why as the pumpkins there are more conducive to Jack O'Lanterns than pie.  Australia is known for it's selection of pumpkins.  A friend had a crop of Jap pumpkins running riot in his yard, and passed them out to us all.  I thought to make pumpkin puree to use in a pie.  Quite labor intensive compared to opening a can of pie puree.  You cut the pumpkin into large pieces, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and roast in a 180C oven until soft.  Blend in a food processor, then place in a sieve to drain any excess liquid.  Spread out on a baking tray (covered in baking paper if you want to save more clean up) and place in the residual oven heat to dehydrate.  Now your puree is ready!  Upon sampling the pie... I noticed that the texture was lighter and fluffier that the original pumpkin pie... all the extra fuss was worth it.



Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 egg
Milk to suit

Place 1 egg in a measuring cup. Beat slightly and fill to ½ mark with milk.
Combine flour, salt & baking powder in a bowl. Work shortening into the dry ingredients, then add milk/egg mixture.
Place in fridge to set.
Yields top and bottom crust for a pie.
Note: This is a North American recipe... shortening can be hard to locate in Australia.  You could try it with your own version of a short crust pastry if you prefer.  That is next on my list to try!
(*Note – Coarse salt tends to make the crust flakier.)

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 – 9” unbaked pie shell
1 – 14oz can pumpkin (400ml)
1 – can condensed milk
2 – eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 220C.
Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and stir well until blended.
Blend in condensed milk. Pour into pie shell.
Bake at 220C for 10 min. Reduce oven temp to 180C and continue baking for 45 min. longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool and top with whipped cream and grated sugared ginger.
Tip: Cut out tiny pasty ‘leaves’ to edge pie crust with.