Red or green kabocha squash makes a mean pumpkin pie. It's got more
flavor than a pumpkin by far, it's easier to peel, and you can buy them
at your local farmers market from now until March!
It came out incredibly flakey and pastry-like. Very exciting.
This recipe should make enough dough for 2 small pies.
Dough:
3/4 c tapioca starch
1 c brown rice flour
1/2 c white rice flour
2 t guar gum
1 1/2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2-1 cup cold water
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in cold butter with a knife until crumbly.
Add cream cheese and small amounts of water and mix until dough
just holds together and isn't crumbly. Wrap dough ball in plastic
and store in the freezer while you prep the filling. When ready,
preheat oven to 375, roll out dough to desired thickness and
transfer to pie pan (The cast iron was pretty but it made the bottom
crust very tough.). Flute the edges if desired. Score bottom with a fork
and bake for 15 minutes.
Kabocha Pie Filling (egg-free)
(I did this filling to taste, and advise you to do the same, but here are
some approximations.)
This is enough filling for one pie.
1 small kabocha squash, halved, deseeded and boiled until fork-tender
about 1 cup buttermilk
1/4 c plain greek strained yogurt
1/2 c sugar (to taste)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/8 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt
1 t lemon or orange zest
Peel boiled squash and puree (with some water if necessary).
Mix all ingredients together and edit until desired taste is achieved.
It should be the consistency of a stiff pancake batter.
Pour into a par-baked pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until cracks
start to form in the top (since there is no thickener in this recipe, it
must bake for a long time, but in the end the texture is incredible).
Serve with the remaining container's worth of greek yogurt mixed with
orange zest, orange juice, fresh ginger and a touch of sugar.
1 pie will feed 12 of your closest friends.
