roast

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Okay so Pumpkin Pie isn’t really a ‘Thing’ in Australia. But when you’ve bought a butternut at the farmers markets that’s the size of a human baby, finding ways to use it all becomes a challenge. Especially when you discover that the one kilogram you require for a hefty batch of Thai red curry pumpkin soup leaves you still with two thirds of said vegetable to demolish!

Food Fervour

yep, that’s my big butternut!

A friend once told me that pumpkin should only ever be roasted because “it brings out the flavour”. I discovered he’s dead right: the natural sugars caramelise and boost the veggie’s flavour incredibly. So I always roast it now, and often in quantities over and above anything I happen to be making at the time. That is to say, I roast extra so I’m prepared.

So, with a decent quantity of ready-roasted pumpkin chillin’ in the fridge, I ruminated upon its sweetness and wondered, “Could I successfully make a no added sugar dessert with it?” I considered how sweet the frittatas I made with it were. Could I make a kind of pumpkin ‘dessert’ frittata? That’s when I really began thinking about pumpkin pie… but I certainly didn’t want to have to make pastry for a pie crust. (Hell no! That’s way too much work!) Surely a blend of eggs, cream, some spices & that sweet roasted pumpkin could work?

A Google search for ‘crustless pumpkin pie recipes’ revealed (apart from all of the results being American websites) that their ingredients were pretty much as simple as I’d envisioned. Most of them however use (ugh!) evaporated milk, egg ‘replacer’ or ‘substitute’ and of course, added sugar. God Bless America!

Except for the cooking times (roasting the pumpkin & the final bake) this recipe is ridiculously simple and very time efficient. If you pre-cook the pumpkin as I did, you’ll save even more time. (Really, roasting excess vege is a great, healthy habit to get into; it helps you to stay ‘prepared’. You can save time and expand your meals options for salads, frittatas, risottos …but they also make a better choice of snack if you’re a regular ‘fridge visitor’ like me!)

Now, if you haven’t pre-roasted your pumpkin, the basic method is to preheat your oven to 200ºC, line a tray with baking paper then arrange skinned and roughly cut chunks of lightly oiled pumpkin (EVOO is fine even though you’ll be making a dessert… you won’t even notice the flavour after the roasting) and bake them for 20-30 minutes (depending upon the speed of your oven). Don’t burn them! If a skewer slides in easily & the centre feels soft, you’re done. It’s probably a good idea to let it cool a bit before moving onto the pie recipe.Food Fervour

Here’s what I used for my pie:

430gms of roast pumpkin, 2 eggs, 200gm pure cream, the following spices: 1 teaspoon vanilla paste, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves & a pinch of salt, plus 50gm pecans (optional). What’s also optional is to keep some maple syrup handy to add later if you don’t think the batter is sweet enough for you. (But don’t go overboard; the more you add, the runnier the mix will be…)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease & line a baking dish/casserole dish or round cake tin with baking paper, then simply throw all of the ingredients into a food processor or high-powered blender and mix well. (Thermies: a couple of 10-20 second rounds on Speed 5-6, with some scrape-downs, should suffice.) Pour the ‘batter’ into your prepared receptacle and sprinkle with extra cinnamon, then cook for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Food FervourNB: Because I used a smaller (16x16cm) dish, my pie was thicker so I let it cook for almost an hour. Bear in mind that a thinner pie = potentially less cooking time.

Allow to cool a little before trying to remove from the dish. Slice and serve up with more cream …or just enjoy it undressed. 😛

Roasted Lamb Steak, Brussel Sprouts & Broccoli

I saw – somewhere – a picture of oven roasted brussel spouts the other day and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Even though we didn’t eat these fellas often as kids, I’ve never really hated them unlike the majority of people on the planet. So when I saw a bag of organic brussels at the markets on Saturday morning, it was ON!

I’m envisioning heaps of olive oil & garlic. Then I see broccoli in the mix. This is getting good! I bought some fresh grass fed lamb steaks at the markets as well, and since (er, excuse the candidness) it’s getting close to ‘that time of month’ I really feel like a good dose of haem iron.

So, here’s my dinner adventure for tonight:

Food FervourI used 3 ( yes 3!) garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, (approx) 100gms grass fed lamb steak, 1 small carrot, 7-8 brussel sprouts, 4-5 broccoli florets.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC

Finely chop 1 garlic clove, add 1 tblspn Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspn EVOO & 1 squeeze (approx 1 tspn) lemon juice, mix then marinade your lamb steak (approx 100gm) for at least 10 mins…

Quarter (lengthwise) 1 small carrot then, adding 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 finely chopped garlic clove and salt to a (preferably glass) baking dish, throw in the brussel sprouts, and rub with the garlic, oil & salt mix. Do same for the carrot quarters.

Next, pop a small frypan on the stove, on high heat. Meanwhile prepare (slice) your broccoli florets. A drop of EVOO (about 1 teaspoon) will tell you when the frypan is hot, then you want to pop in your lamb… and I’m talkin’ 20 seconds tops…. turn it over, another maximum of 20 seconds then pull it off the heat. Unless prefer your meat a little more ‘rare’ (in which case just allow it to ‘rest’) add it to the baking dish with the veggies and pop it in the oven. Set your timer for 5 minutes.Food Fervour

Drizzle oil over your broccoli florets, squeeze some more lemon over then then massage the lot through. (Did I mention you should have washed your hands before you started cooking?!) When the 5 minute timer sounds, add the broccoli (& the meat, if you haven’t already) to the baking dish, turn the carrots/brussels if you wish, and reset the timer for 15 minutes. If you can remember, try to turn everything at about 7-8 minute mark. (I usually do this by deliberately setting my timer for 7 or 8 minutes… no forgetting then!)

When the timer sounds for the last time, it’s time to serve and enjoy. I think what made the dish for me was the sweetness of the Worcestershire and the wonderful tang of the lemon. Deeelish!