One strand on this blog has me cooking recipes from
the book Pieminister: a pie for all
seasons (Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon, 2011). Although this variation on
American pumpkin pie is in the autumn section of the book (page 154), we still
have British-grown squashes from vegetable boxes in the veg rack (and the thicker skinned squashes do keep well).
I made the suggested half-quantity of shortcrust pastry, following the book (page 10; the all-butter Pieminister way). This was barely
enough to line the shallow pie dish I was using, but once you taste the pie you
realize you don't want to overdo the pastry on this one. The pastry is cooked
15-20 minutes before the filling is added.
The filling is made from boiled cubes of
butternut squash blended with cream (200ml), a couple of eggs, soft brown sugar
(80g), and some grated nutmeg. I used a butternut squash that was to hand and,
not wanting any left, put in more than the amount suggested in the recipe. I kept all the other filling measurements as in the book; it worked fine.
The filling gets layered onto the part-cooked pastry base and put back in the
oven for about 20 minutes.
I made the topping using flaked almonds (100g),
just a few hazelnuts, and walnuts (100g) instead of the suggested pecans. These
were pulsed in a blender and mixed with maple syrup (4 tablespoons) and pumpkin
seeds (40g). When this has been stirred together it is put over the butternut
filling, which should have just set, and the pie returned to the oven for about
another 10 minutes to roast the nutty topping.
I am glad I made the effort (i.e., crossed the
road to the shop) to obtain the sunflower seeds. Not an ingredient I use much,
but they work well on the topping here; the partly-ground nuts with the whole
sunflower seeds giving a very satisfying texture. I did not feel I needed to
drizzle on the suggested extra maple syrup.
This pie is filling. The book suggests that
this recipe serves 6. It will keep our family of four going for at least three
days as dessert (with the remaining cream, with yoghurt, with ice cream).
See also:
Pieminister: Homity Pie:
Pieminister: Courgette & chickpea filo pie:
The Pieminister book:
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