If you take a look in October into someone’s kitchen you will most probably notice a pumpkin occupying some space on the counter.
It can stay there for a long time before we decide one day to cut through it, scoop out its seeds, and cook something with its pulp.
Often in Greece, we use pumpkin to make a pie, or better to say, pies.
The main reason for the plural form is pumpkin versatility for both savory and sweet preparations. If you tell to a Greek that you have made a pumpkin pie, the first question you will be asked is whether the pie was salty or sweet.
No matter the answer, it is expected that the recipe describes a pumpkin mixture enclosed in between several sheets of filo dough and baked in the oven. However, you can still call it a pie even if the pumpkin mixture is prepared, poured into a pan, and baked simply as such.
Taking advantage of all those possibilities, I prepared this October three different pumpkin pies, two with filo dough (one savory and one sweet), and one without.
Filo dough Pumpkin pie (savory)
Filling
The amounts listed here are for a pie to be baked into a 28cm-diameter baking pan
500g pumpkin pulp
3-4 spring onions
a bunch of dill
a bunch of mint
extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper/nutmeg
cheese (optional)
- Cut the pumpkin pulp into small pieces, either using a grater or a food processor. Add a spoon of salt, mix, and let stand for a few minutes. After, squeeze the pulp into a towel or by hand to remove excess liquid.
- Mix into a bowl the pumpkin pulp, the chopped spring onions, and the fresh herbs. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Drizzle also some olive oil, and mix well.
(If you like add also some cheese of your preference)
Pie
filo dough (look here how to make it)
filling
extra virgin olive oil
- Lay three sheets of filo dough on top of each other onto the well-oiled bottom of a baking pan.
(Let the edges from each filo to fall out, all the way around the pan)
(Drizzle each layer of filo with some olive oil before applying the next)
- Pour the filling.
- Lay three more filo sheets on top of the filling and each other to close the pie, repeating the same process as before .
(In this case, you do not have to let the filo sheets to fall out of the pan. Better, fold them irregularly with hands on top of the filling and each other)
- Fold the edges of the bottom filo sheets over with your fingers and tuck them to stick onto the top filo sheets, all the way around the pan to seal the pie.
- Drizzle the surface with olive oil and spray some water. With a fork or knife make some holes on the top dough layers to let the steam escape and avoid crust expansion during baking.
- Bake the pie in a pre-heated at 180 ºC oven, for 45-60 min until the crust turns golden and crunchy.
- Let it cool down a bit before cutting and eating.
(Enjoy eating it with some Greek yoghourt)
Filo dough Pumpkin pie (sweet)
Filling
The amounts listed here are for a pie to be baked into a 28cm-diameter baking pan
500g pumpkin pulp
50g sugar
50g raisins (soaked in water)
nutmeg/clove/cinnamon (ground)
dusting sugar (optional)
- Process the pumpkin as in the previous recipe.
- Mix into a bowl the pumpkin pulp with the rest of the ingredients
(Try not to add too much of the spices, especially clove, because they can bring unpleasantly intense flavours)
Pie
- Follow the same process as before and only substitute the salty filling with the sweet one.
(Dust some sugar and/or cinnamon when served)
No pastry Pumpkin pie
The amounts listed here are for a pie to be baked into a 28cm-diameter baking pan
500g pumpkin puree
2 eggs
150g flour
30g extra virgin olive oil and extra for drizzling
feta cheese
salt/pepper/nutmeg
- Prepare first the pumpkin puree by cutting the pumpkin (for this recipe a small, whole pumpkin should me enough) into big slices. Season each slice with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil. Bake them for 40 min at 180ºC. After they have cooled down a bit scoop out their pulp.
- Add that puree into a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the eggs and the olive oil and mix with a spatula to form a liquid batter.
- Add the flour and continue mixing until it is completely hydrated and incorporated into the mixture.
- Cut in smaller pieces with your hands some feta cheese and mix it into the mixture.
- Transfer the mixture into a well-oiled baking pan and top it with some extra feta and a good drizzle of olive oil.
- Bake for an hour at 180ºC.