Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Pie

As Mum and I cleaned up the garden this morning, I came across a donated pumpkin in the garden shed that had been there for about a week. I decided that it would come home with me and be part of my thanksgiving dinner.

I made my own pumpkin purée with that squash but you can buy 2 cups of purée for this recipe if you prefer. Don't buy the pumpkin pie filling as it already has all the spices and a lot of sugar.

If you do want to make your own pumpkin purée, it's quite easy but not super fast. Wash the outside of the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Cut the halves into 4 pieces each. Place flesh side down on a cookie sheet and put into a pre-heated 400 degree oven. Pour in a cup of water into the cookie sheet. I do that when it's already in the oven to prevent me from spilling water everywhere. Cook 40 minutes until the flesh is tender. Let cool until you can handle the pieces then cut the flesh off the skin and purée in the blender. Put some cheesecloth or a tea-towel into a metal sieve over a deep bowl. Pour the pumpkin purée into the sieve and let the water drip out. I left it about an hour.

Pumpkin Pie

2 vegan pie shells
1 block firm silken tofu (about 350 grams or 3/4 lb)
2 cups pumpkin purée
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp molasses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the pie shells onto a cookie sheet so that if they bubble over, you don't have a mess in your oven.

Put all the other ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into the pie shells. Bake 1 hour.

After an hour the filling will be bubbling. Take the pies out and let them cool several hours before eating. We left ours about 2-3 hours. The filling firms up enough to cut the pie but it's still quite soft like ricotta cheese.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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