The early American pilgrims probably made a type of pumpkin pie by stewing pumpkins or even by pouring milk, honey and spices into a hollowed out pumpkin shell and then baking it in hot ashes. They didn’t bake the kind of pies we eat today simply because they didn’t have ovens at that stage. By the time the pilgrims arrived, the Indians were already cultivating pumpkins and boiling or roasting them but at first the pilgrims weren’t overly impressed by the vegetable even though  the Indians who brought them the pumpkins, also taught them how to cook them. However, once the pilgrims had to survive their first winter and

half of them died from scurvy and exposure, they changed their minds.

Ingredients

Crust

• Ready made sweet short crust pastry case or simply buy a packet of sweet short crust pastry and mix about 50 g of crushed pecans into it.

Filling

• 450 g pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
• 275 ml double cream
• 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk (use the white for another dish)
• 75g soft dark brown sugar
• 1 small lemon, grated zest only
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground ginger

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
• Line a 23 cm tart dish with the sweet crust pastry or use the purchased case.
• Steam or lightly roast the pumpkin and then put in a coarse sieve, pressing  lightly to extract any excess water.
• Whisk the egg and the extra yolk well in a large bowl.
• Put the sugar, the spices and the cream in a saucepan and bring to simmering point, whisking lightly to combine everything well.
• Allow to cool for five minutes and then pour it over the eggs and whisk to combine everything well.
• At this point add the pumpkin pureé and continue whisking to combine everything thoroughly – pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for about 35-40 minutes at which point it will puff up around the edges and still be a tad wobbly in the centre.
• Now remove it from the oven and put  the tart dish on a wire cooling rack until it has cooled down – place in the refrigerator.
• Serve at room temperature or chilled with plenty of whipped cream.