savory roasted pumpkin pie

     Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so to celebrate the season I will be posting four recipes that involve roasted pumpkin. Pumpkins are cheap and plentiful this time of year so it's a good time have a few different ways to take advantage of this great symbol of the fall harvest. You can purchase a large pumpkin, chop it up, roast it and then keep it in your fridge for up to a week to make several different dishes all week long. This first dish solves the problem of what to make for a vegetarian for Thanksgiving. Instead of just letting them make a plate out of all the side dishes that you serve with you turkey, you can make this savory pumpkin pie that will be a hit with both the meat eaters and the vegetarians at the table. You can either make individual tarts for each guest or make one large one for the whole table. If you have time you can make your own pie crust (see my recipe for rabbit pot pie) or you can simply roll out frozen puff pastry from the supermarket or even just use a pre-made frozen pie crust. I love traditional sweet pumpkin pie too (I recently had a great one at Au Pied du Cochon) and I will be posting a recipe for one in the next few days.

Start to finish 1 hour, served 6
Ingredients:

 400g   roasted pumpkin, roughly chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic , finely chopped
200g    mixed beans (any canned variety)
100g    potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbs    worchestershire sauce
100ml  vegetable stock
600g   puff pastry, 6 small pie shells or one large pie shell
100g   toasted hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 425F
1.  To roast your pumpkin, chop it into large chunks and spread them out on a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil & season with salt and pepper. Leave the skin on while roasting, because it will be easier to cut the skin off when the pumpkin ifs soft and cooked. Roast the pumpkin until it is soft enough to cut with a fork with little resistance. Let the roasted pumpkin cool and then peel & dice it.
2. Boil the potatoes until very soft. Strain the potatoes and then gently crush them with a fork to make a chunky mash.
3. Meanwhile, sautée the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add the beans, roasted pumpkin, crushed potatoes, vegetable stock and worchestershire sauce. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Fill the pie shell(s) with the filling and bake for 10 -15minutes, until the crust is golden brown If you are using puff pastry of the pie dough recipe from my rabbit pot pie recipe, par bake the dough for 10 minutes before adding the filling. You can make lattices to garnish the tops of the pies after adding the filling, but feel free to omit them and keep the pumpkin pie open-top.

5. Bake the stuffed pies in the oven for ten minutes. To crisp the pastry lattices, turn on the broiler for the last minute. When the pies are ready, sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts and serve with spinach salad.