Eco Child’s Play

It’s almost tofu turkey time! One tradition in our home is tofu pumpkin pie. We’ve been making this delectable dessert for 16 years from organically homegrown, sugar pie pumpkins. It is always a crowd pleaser, even amongst our guests who usually shy away from bean curd, and of course, the kids love it! Nutritious and delicious, tofu pumpkin pie is the perfect ending to your Thanksgiving meal, even if you eat a bird.

Prepare the Pumpkin:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Of course, you can make tofu pumpkin pie from pumpkin in a can, but starting from the squash is more wholesome and fun. Cut an organic, small pumpkin in half (the sugar pie variety is best, but really any pumpkin will do). Lay the pumpkin halves face down on a cookie sheet. Next, poke holes in the skin of pumpkin with a fork, like you would to bake a potato. Bake the pumpkin for about 45 minutes, or until it is tender when poked with a fork.

The Crust: This tofu pumpkin pie recipe would be vegan, except for the fact that I love a crust made with butter. To make the perfect crust, mix together:

• 1/2 cup organic, unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup finely crushed walnuts (optional)
  
• Tiny dash of salt

Cut into the dry mixture 1/3 cup of chilled butter. The trick to a flaky crust is to not let the butter warm, so if you need to use your fingers to crumble it, be careful not to let the butter absorb too much of your body heat. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of cold water, then mix the dough until it just holds together: Do not over handle the dough if you want a flaky crust! Form the dough into a ball and chill it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. In a crunch, you can place the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes. Next, roll the dough on a floured surface and place it into a buttered pie plate. Prebake the pie shell at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Pouring dry beans into the pie shell will help it hold its shape while prebaking.

The Filling:

Combine in a food processor (or by hand):

• 1/2 pound tofu (crumbled)
• 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin (just spoon it out of the cooked squash)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soymilk
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp mace
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, coriander, and allspice, ginger, cloves
• 1 tsp vanilla

Blend the mixture very well, then add it to the pie crust. You can substitute premixed Pumpkin pie spice, if you don’t have all these spices. It is also good to be cautious with the spices and flavor the pie to your taste. Add the filling to the prebaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Adding tofu to desserts is a great way to give them more nutritional value and trick your friends and family into trying something new. Even my most conservative relatives (you know-the ones that voted for Bush), rave about my tofu pumpkin pie. Sometimes I wait until they have taken their first bite to reveal the secret tofu ingredient.

This recipe is adapted from the Horn of the Moon cookbook and a 15-year-old flyer from Surata Soyfoods.

Image courtesy of BigOven.