Butternut Pumpkin Pie With a Brown Rice Crust

A wonderfully healthy low fat vegetarian pie with a brown rice crust. This recipe is also free of dairy products and eggs. I’ve adapted it from a recipe in Karen Meyer's 'The Artful Vegetarian', and I am posting it for the Healthy for the Holidays Challenge! I was inspired to go looking among my recipe books after recently making ClareVH’s Salmon-Rice Pie. I knew that somewhere was a recipe I’d made years ago with a rice crust, and I found this one. I’m not a hundred percent sure if this is the one I’ve made previously. From memory it was, but I certainly I haven’t tried it recently! This pie could be made with white rice (brown rice is more nutritious), but I’d suggest not using instant rice, and the vegetables could, of course, be varied to suit your tastes and what you have on hand. The original recipe, in the filling, had kuzi (a Japanese arrowroot) listed as an alternative ingredient to arrowroot, but Zaar didn't recognise kuzi as an ingredient. If you're feeling adventurous, you may want to hunt it out! If you enjoyed rice the crust in this recipe, you may also like my Leek and Spinach Tart With Rice Crust.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 1 pie

Ingredients

• RICE CRUST

• 3  cups cooked brown rice (shortgrain rice binds well)
• 1⁄2 cup sesame seeds
• 1  tablespoon tahini (see Notes)
• 1⁄3 cup cornflour
• 1⁄2 tablespoon  oil
• 2  teaspoons tamari (see Notes)

• FILLING

• 2  butternut squash, pumpkins
• 2  cups ricotta cheese (optional) or 2  cups tofu (optional)
• 2  teaspoons  oil
• 2  leeks, thoroughly washed, finely chopped
• 4  garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon mustard
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  coriander
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1  cup zucchini, finely diced
• 1  cup celery, finely chopped
• 2⁄3 cup green peas
• 1  cup  hot  vegetable stock (see Notes) or 1  cup hot water (see Notes)
• 1  tablespoon arrowroot
• 2  tablespoons cold water
• 2  teaspoons tamari, to taste (see Notes)

• TO SERVE

• 1  apple, cored and thinly sliced
•  cinnamon or  nutmeg, to dust

Directions

1. RICE CRUST: Combine all the ingredients and mix together until well-combined. If the crust does not hold together, add a little extra tahini and cornflour. Pat into the base and sides of a well-oiled pie dish. (No size was included in the recipe, but judging from other recipes, my guess is a 10" pie dish.) Bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden.
2. FILLING: Cut the pumpkins in half lengthwise and bake, cut-side down in a hot oven for 30 minutes, or until very soft when tested with a skewer. (I'd have them in the oven while the crust was cooking, then once the rice crust has been removed from the oven, I'd increase the heat for maybe 10 minutes.).
3. Allow the pumpkin halves to cool and when they are cool enough to handle, scoop out the insides, discarding the seeds, and puree the pulp in a blender. If adding ricotta or tofu, add it while pureeing the pumpkin; it will make for a firmer texture.
4. Heat the oil in a large pan, preferably non-stick, and sauté the leeks and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add the spices and stir over a moderate heat for 1-2 minutes, taking care that the contents of the pan do not burn.
5. Carefully add the zucchini, celery and peas and the hot vegetable stock or hot water, stirring to ensure that the spices are absorbed and combined with all the other ingredients. Simmer until the water or vegetable stock has evaporated.
6. Dissolve the arrowroot (or kuzi) in the cold water and stir this into the vegetable mixture, add the tamari and simmer for about 1 minute.
7. Pour the vegetable mixture over the rice crust and spread the pumpkin puree over the top of this.
8. Bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes.
9. SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Decorate the pie with thin slices of apple, and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg and heat for an additional 5 minutes.
10. Allow the pie to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
11. Serve with a green salad with nuts and sunflower seeds and cubes of tofu marinated in tamari.
12. NOTES: When stock is required in a recipe, I use my Vegetable Stock Recipe #135453 or Chef Kate's Roasted Vegetable Stock Recipe #143292. Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds and is used as both for its binding qualities and for flavouring; it is rich in minerals, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. Tahini is an ingredient in most hummus recipes. Tamari is pure, top quality soy sauce, and is free from chemicals and preservatives. It can be used for flavouring in place of added salt or stock cubes in soups, vegetable dishes, pies, casseroles and dressings. Tahini and tamari are available at health food stores and large supermarkets.