Pumpkin Pie Recipe

A good old fashioned classic American dish typically served at Thanksgiving, but it’ll go down brilliantly at any autumn party.

Serves 6

Image: The White Hart Fyfield

Ingredients

Short crust pastry:

Remove the skin and seeds from the pumpkin and dice into 5cm cubes. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray, cover with foil and bake at 180C for about 15 minutes. Mash and stand in a sieve to remove the excess liquid. Chill until require.
To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add enough cold water to make a stiff dough. Press the dough together with your fingertips. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then line a 25cm pie plate. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Blind bake for 30 minutes (with beans) and then 10 minutes (without beans).
In a large bowl, mix 450g of the mashed pumpkin with the sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, add the milk and evaporated milk and mix well. Stir the egg/milk mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Pour into the pastry case.
Bake for 50 minutes at 150C or until a knife inserted in the centre of the pie comes out clean. Allow it to cool slightly before serving.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.