Anything Pumpkin?

Autumn’s clearly the time of year when pumpkins come into their own. We’ve had Halloween.  Then it’s Thanksgiving.  Selina looks at this vibrant orange vegetable and shares a mouthwatering recipe for pastry less Pumpkin Pie that’s quick to make.

The centrepiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, similar to our Christmas meal generally focussed around a large turkey (oven roasted, smoked, deep fried) with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry jelly, stuffing and Pumpkin Pie.

The ever customary ‘Pumpkin Pie’. It is not sure whether pumpkin was one of the dishes in the first thanksgiving dinner. Pumpkin is one of the important symbols of the harvest festival and has been an American-favourite for over 400 years now. It did not become a common addition to the Thanksgiving dinner until the early nineteenth century. The pilgrims brought the pumpkin pie back to New England,while the English method of cooking the pumpkin in the 19th century, was prepared by stuffing the pumpkin with apples, spices and sugar and then baking it whole.

Having normally disliked pumpkin to start off with, these days it’s become an integral part of cooking at home in the season of Autumn bordering on Winter months, when Halloween comes about, these bright orange vegetables bob up at markets and Libby’s Pumpkin Puree is hunted for in the shops.  Then come the comforting recipes to curl up on the sofa with some pumpkin soup or dig into warm pumpkin pie laced with cream on a frosty afternoon.  You can’t have Thanksgiving without Pumpkin Pie, so here is a non-pastry version that’s quick to make, minus the store bought pastry or when time to make fresh pastry isn’t at hand.

Maple Pumpkin Pie, Cream & Vanilla Pumpkin Seeds

For a 20cm tart tin
 
For the base:

1 Packet Ginger Nut Biscuits

80 g Butter, unsalted melted

For the pie filling:

1 small pumpkin or medium butternut squash
145g maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs, beaten
150ml evaporated milk
  

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Cut pumpkin or squash in half or quarters depending on the size, and scoop out the seeds (keep these) and discard the fibres inside. Place in a roasting dish, roast for about half an hour, until tender.

2. Meanwhile, make the base, whizz up the ginger nut biscuits in a food processor with the melted butter, once all the biscuits are mixed well with the butter, take out and place in the bottom of the cake tin, press down with a spatula. Leave in the freezer for 10 minutes.

3. Keeping the oven on, take the pumpkin out and leave to cool slightly, then peel off the skin, and scoop the flesh into a food processor. Whizz until smooth. Add in the maple syrup, cinnamon, then mix in the eggs. Give it a pulse in the processor then add in the evaporated milk until you have a thick, creamy consistency. Blend it one last time.

7. Take out the crust from the freezer, pour in the pumpkin mixture and bake for about 40 minutes, checking from half an hour onwards, until the filling is set, but still slightly wobbly in the centre. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before serving.

Serve with whipped up cream and roasted pumpkin seeds (dust in sugar and vanilla seeds prior to roasting to caramelise)  they add a lovely crunch and texture to this recipe.

Look out from more pumpkin recipes on Great British Chefs and an amazing deconstructed pumpkin pie which needs to be seen to be believed.

Let us know your favourite ways of cooking pumpkins, both sweet and savoury.

De-constructed Pumpkin Pie

Gourmet chefs are prone to de-constructing things.  They’ll take elements of familiar dishes and break them apart or re-mix them to create brand new dishes.  This amazing creation is one of the first de-constructed pumpkin pies we’ve seen at Great British Chefs.  We were especially delighted to hear that it was created by a Brit!

With Thanksgiving on the way, pumpkin pie will be the dessert of choice for millions  celebrating the festival around the world.  Pumpkin pie didn’t become a common addition to the Thanksgiving dinner until the early nineteenth century. Originally it was prepared by stuffing a pumpkin with apples, spices and sugar and was then baked whole.

Laurie Jon Moran is the executive pastry chef at Le Bernardin in New York.  He worked at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons after first training at Northampton College and then gained positions at Daniel, Picholine and Per Se before landing the prized role at Le Bernardin.

Moran has become well known for his creative de-constructions.  When taking apart the pie he told the New York Times “You have similar flavours and textures, but I approached them as I would a dessert for the restaurant.  It’s actually less disassembled than I’d normally do, with each person getting a separate presentation, but unless you have an army of cooks and assistants, that would be impossible for Thanksgiving dinner at home.”

As with most de-constructions, don’t be put off by the recipe as you’ll find it’s a number of simpler recipes in one.  It’s all in the presentation and if you’re fond of making gingerbread houses you’ll find the assembly is similar.

As the New York Times say “Even children can spread ganache and decorate the cake with cranberries and cookies.

Everything can be done a day or two ahead, and the assembled cake, except for its decorations, can be refrigerated until ready to serve.”

Look out from more pumpkin recipes on Great British Chefs and our blog will be covering more traditional pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving over the coming days.

Pumpkin Pie Recipes

We asked our Facebook fans, for some dishes to make using seasonal pumpkins that are currently in shops for Halloween.

Brenda Lyons Tinker shared this wonderful recipe from Pumpkin Pie which, our Head of Social Media, adapted slightly using a Pumpkin Pie recipe from Antony Worrall Thompson with fresh pumpkins, which she roasted rather than steamed to make the pumpkin puree (thanks Nigella & Nigel Slater) & she also made the  pastry shell herself.

Pumpkin Pie

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined.

Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

She’s bringing the pie in to Great British Chefs HQ for us all to share.  Question is do we then re-heat it or keep it chilled.  We’re discussing this & other Pumpkin Pie queries over on Facebook.