Madein.md Recipe: Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin season continues, which means that pumpkin recipes are still relevant. Most of pumpkin-based recipes start with its baking in an oven until it is mashed. Only afterwards, it is used in the preparation of our favorite pies, pancakes, cheesecakes, in morning cereals and even morning smoothies.

Therefore, pumpkin lovers can immediately bake the largest fruit they found in the market, and then pack the pumpkin “puree” in portioned packages and freeze it for future culinary masterpieces.

You can bake the whole pumpkin, or you can cut it into slices, in order to bake it faster. On average, you need to bake a pumpkin for 1 - 1.5 hours at a temperature of 200 degrees.

By the way, pumpkin seeds shall not be thrown away along with the central pulp. They can be washed, dried and fried in a dry frying pan, or in a small amount of butter to become an excellent crunchy addition to vegetable salads or morning cereals, or even as a decoration of various desserts.

If the pumpkin was grown ecologically, the baked peel can also be used. It can be finely chopped and fried, and then added to salads.

For those who have already tried all the popular pumpkin recipes, here’s something unusual - a more healthy pumpkin pie option - without white flour and sugar, and made only using Moldovan ingredients.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. In order to prepare the crust, grind the nuts into small crumbs using a food processor. Add prunes and mix thoroughly. Add water and butter and mix until a dense mass is reached. If there is no food processor, the crust can be prepared using a meat grinder.

2. Pour the crust onto the bottom of a round baking dish to form a dense pie shell. One can use a flat glass to firmly press the mass to the bottom and walls of the dish.

3. The crust is placed into the refrigerator during the preparation of the filling.

4. Wrap the pumpkin in an aluminum foil, whole or sliced. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 1 - 1.5 hours, depending on the size of the fruit. Afterwards, the pumpkin should be soft and easily removable from the peel.

5. Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a deep bowl and stir until an uniform mass is obtained.

6. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Pour the filling onto the crust, level it, and put the pie to bake for 45-55 minutes. The final product will become rosy and dense.

7. Cool the cake at room temperature, and then put it in the refrigerator for the night - the pie should sink and condense.

The pie can be served with whipped cream, ice cream or ground nuts.

The whole grain flour can be purchased from local bakeries, such as Bread Corner or Iarba Noastră, for example.

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