Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The Great Pumpkin Carve-Off: Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed Crust

I know. After announcing I'm not a baker, I bake. Again. But this time I have an excuse! Elise, of Simply Recipes, is (was) holding a contest for creative and delicious uses of the left-overs from carving a pumpkin. I haven't carved a pumpkin in years, so this seemed like as good an excuse as any. Also, I was back in New York for the weekend, which meant the Boy joined me in pumpkin carving. And since pie is one of his absolute favorite foods, I decided it was only fair to make him one.

To make this pie, I got my idea from another recipe in Canyon Ranch Cooks. Their recipe was for a Pumpkin Pie with a Pecan Crust. Looking at my ever-growing pile of Pumpkin Seeds, I decided to make the crust with a combination of ground Pumpkin Seeds and Graham Crackers instead. Not very sweet, it came out with a "homey" taste, something you'd expect a grandmother to serve. I think it would be best with whipped cream, though we loved it straight. You can substitute canned pumpkin puree for the fresh puree I made by steaming peeled pieces left over from our Jack O'Lanterns.

Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed Crust

10 Graham Crackers
2 tablespoons Pumpkin Seeds, toasted in 250 F oven.
1 tablespoon + 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
Oil to coat pie plate
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Evaporated Fat-Free Milk
1/4 cup Apple Juice Concentrate
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
3 Cloves, ground
Pinch Salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a food processor, combine Graham Crackers and Pumpkin Seeds until all crumbs are more or less of the same texture. Move to a medium bowl and add 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Puree. Mix well. Grease 9" pie plate (I used Peanut Oil), then press Graham Cracker and Pumpkin Seed mixture into bottom and up sides.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, including 1 cup Pumpkin Puree. Blend well.

Pour Pumpkin mixture into pie crust.

Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Once cooled to room temperature, refrigerate pie.

Serve chilled.

Update: The results are in! Check them out and congrats to the winners.



and and and and and

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yummmm... This pumpkin pie sounds so de-li-cious!

Anonymous said...

FEED ME MORE PIE!!!!!!!!!!
don't hold out on me im going through pie withdrawl

Elise said...

Graham cracker crusts can be such a challenge, bravo for making one! I like the idea of adding the seeds to the crust - even more of the pumpkin flavor for the pie. Thanks for playing. :-)