Fall has already well begun – it is actually soon over -, a perfect time to talk about a sweet vegetable that is an avoidable element of that period of the year: pumpkin.

Preparation time : 15 minutes
Baking time : 10 + 40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the crust:
– a pre-made shortbread crust
or
– 300g of flour
– 150g of butter
– 50g of sugar
– a pinch of salt
– half a glass of lukewarm water (about 8cl)

for the mixture:
– 1/8th of pumpkin
– 200g of Abondance cheese, or any other strong hard cheese (take some more if you want to cover the tart with that same cheese)
– 1 to 2 onions
– 2 eggs
– 20cl of crème fraîche
– spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, curry, turmeric, grounded hot pepper)
– salt

Preparation of the crust
Heat up the oven at 180°C (thermostat 6), then start preparing a classic shortbread crust – check out my pie crust , only adding 50g of sugar in it before incorporating the butter. Line a pie plate, prick the dough and blind bake it for 10 minutes. That will allow the crust to stay dry despite the pumpkin, which has a high percentage of water.

Preparation of the pumpkin
Cut the pumpkin in manageable slices and peel them. Dice it and boil it until it is soft – that would be about 10 minutes in a pressure cooker, or twice as much in a normal pan.

During that time, mince the onions and sauté them in a frying pan until the get soft and translucent, at a low fire using a mix of oil and butter, as well as a pinch of salt.

Once the pumpkin is cook, drain it well to remove as much water as possible, and mash it coarsely. Add it to the onions and let it simmer for a while, until most of the water is evaporated. A few minutes before removing it from fire, add spices to your liking – cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, curry, turmeric and as nice pinch of grounded hot pepper. Do not forget to taste and add as much salt as needed.

End of preparation and baking
In a big bowl, mix crème fraîche and eggs, then add the pumpkin to it. Stir until even.

Cover the pie dough with a nice layer of Abondance cheese, then add the mixture previously made on top of it. Add another, thiner layer of Abondance cheese on the pie.

Bake the pie in the oven for 35 minutes at least, at 180ºC (thermostat 6), watching it closely around the end and adding time if needed until the pie gets a brownish color. It’s ready !

Also published on Medium.

This post is also available in: French