Pumpkin pie is no surprise for desert at Thanksgiving, and that is something I really don’t mind. I love pumpkin pie plain and simple. I always hear recipes about how people elaborate on the pie and change it up with all different flavors and spices. But in my opinion if the pie aint broken don’t change it!
So a few months ago I was reading French Women Don’t Get Fat which is a great food book about how French women or French people in general eat fresh foods and moderate proportions, hence the title. This book is filled with great fresh recipes and one that really intrigued me was pumpkin pie with hazelnuts. I know it was crazy to me too that I wanted to try a recipe that pumped up the classic pumpkin pie! Things are getting crazy this year in my kitchen! So here’s the recipe hope you like it! Keeping my fingers crossed that this wasn’t a bad idea!
Ingredients
Use store bought pie crust (unless you want to make it)
Filling:
1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
¼ cup granulated brown sugar
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup granulated brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup heavy cream
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pastry and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate, 2 inches deep. Prick the pastry with a fork all over the bottom Line the plate with aluminum foil. Add pie weights or dried beans to weigh down the dough, and bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and discard foil and beans.
- Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Prepare filling by combining hazelnuts, ¼ cup granulated brown sugar, and butter. Work into a paste and spread the paste into the bottom of the partially cooked pastry shell. Back for 10 minutes.
- Mix together the eggs, egg yolk, pumpkin puree, flour, 2/3 cup granulated brown sugar, spices, salt, and heavy cream. Pour in the pastry shell. Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees and bake the pie for 45 minutes.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.