We had our own thanksgiving with some friends this year and decided to make them discover pumpkin pie! Pumpkin pie is not well known in France. We had never made it from scratch so we searched the web for some ideas. We came across a great recipe in the New York Times, but adapted it slightly to our taste and eating habits. It was quite a success surprisingly. Pumpkin pie is particular and does not abide to everyone’s taste buds. We also made: cornbread, green beans with garlic and olive oil, yam and potato mashed potatoes, duck cooked with cider and maple syrup (our oven is too small to fit a turkey), and carrot cake. It was quite a feast.
Slightly adapted from Melissa Clark’s pumpkin pie
Ingredients
Dough:
- 200g (2 cups) of all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 5 grams (1 teaspoons) of yeast (or baking soda)
- A pinch of salt
- Water
Filling :
- 1 butternut squash (1-1,5 kilo / 2-3 pounds)
- 3 large eggs
- 100 grams of fresh goat cheese
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Add the olive oil; mix until it’s homogeneous. Progressively add water to the mixture until you obtain somewhat elastic dough. Put aside and let rest for an hour at room temperature.
Preheat oven at 200C (400F)
Peel and cut butternut squash into like-sized cubes.
Coat butternut with olive oil and bake in oven at 200C (400F) for about 30-45 minutes. Turn from time to time. Remove from oven when soft and let cool.
Preheat oven at 190C (375F). Roll out dough and transfer to a pie plate. Poke holes with a fork.
Cover with a baking sheet and put pie weights (we used chickpeas). Refrigerate for 30 minutes with pie weights. Then, bake for 10 minutes with the weights at 190C (375F). Remove pie weights and baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
Meanwhile, puree butternut squash in a blender or food processor.
In a large bowl mix the butternut squash puree, eggs, goat cheese, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
Preheat oven at 160C (325F)
Pour the mixture onto the dough and bake for 40 – 50 minutes until the crust is cooked and the pie is slightly brown. Cool pie before serving (a couple of hours).
Melting pot-au-feu 