Autumn has officially arrived with this delicious Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie with a high protein pie crust made with ground almonds and pumpkin seed protein.
In a small mixing bowl sieve in your flours. Chop your butter into small cubes and throw in. If using coconut oil divide into small chunks using a teaspoon. Cover the bowl with cling film, give it a good shake until the butter is covered by the flour and then place into the freezer for 20 minutes. This is what makes your pastry lovely and light and crumbly. In the meantime freshly squeeze your orange juice and pop that into the fridge to chill until needed.
Remove your flour and butter/coconut oil bowl from the freezer and pour into your food processor. Process until it comes together into small oat like sized balls. Pulse in your orange juice by the tablespoon. It is not likely that you will require much more than half of it at - you just want to use enough for it to only just form the beginnings of a dough ball. Remove the pastry from the processor and form by hand into a ball. Cover in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4/Fan 160°C. Remove your dough from the fridge and gently warm it between your palms and give it a little knead. Next 'knuckle in' the dough into your loose-based pie/tart tin (23cm/9in, 3cm/1¼" deep) until nice and even and with a slightly thicker crust around the edges. Trim any excess dough and prick the base with a fork a few times before placing your pie crust into the freezer for 15 minutes until firm.
Remove your pie crust from the freezer, line with a little baking parchment, pour in some 'baking beans' or rice and pop it onto the middle shelf of the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes until the pastry begins to look dry and sort of pale around the edges. Remove the parchment and baking beans carefully.
Whilst you are blind baking your pie crust, gently warm your coconut cream in the microwave, or on the stove, over low heat until roughly ⅔ has melted. Remove and stir together. Place your coconut cream and remaining filling ingredients into your food processor and process for 1 minute being sure to scrape down the sides periodically. Repeat a few times until fully processed.
Using the back of a spoon gently tamp down any puffy parts of pastry, then return to the oven for a further 3 minutes. You want the base to be almost baked but not quite.
Remove your pie crust from the oven and pour in your pie filling. Place back onto the middle shelf and cook for 25-30 minutes until the filling has set and has only a slight wobble in the middle when you give it a jiggle. If the pie crust looks like it is browning too quickly create a sort of tin foil dome (shiny side up) to prevent it from burning.
Once done remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before placing the base of the tin on top of a tin can and gently removing the outer ring of the tin.
Storage Instructions: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days.
If you can't find tinned coconut cream anywhere, simply refrigerate a can of full-fat coconut milk overnight and scoop out all of the hard creamy layer but just make sure it's room temperature before using!
If you're vegan or allergic to eggs you can replace each egg with 1 tbsp of arrowroot flour or cornstarch. This may result in a longer baking time but it will be well worth it.
Any excess filling mixture can be baked in small ramekins in the oven for roughly 15-20 minutes.
*All cup measurements used are UK cup measurements and so 1 cup = 250ml. **Preparation time includes 1 hour plus 1-hour resting time for the dough.
Recipe by Greens of the Stone Age at https://greensofthestoneage.com/grain-free-pumpkin-pie-gluten-free-paleo/