Recipe: Tarte a la Citrouille (French Pumpkin Pie)

20 November 2011 by Debra Fioritto 6725

Tarte à la Citrouille ~ French Pumpkin Pie This French-style pumpkin pie comes from central France and is traditionally served on Toussaint (All Saint’s Day) on November 1st. It is delicious warm or cold, served with or without whipped cream. INGREDIENTS 1 homemade or refrigerate 9-inch pie crust 3-1/4 lbs small pumpkin or butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced small 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup light brown sugar 4 Tablespoons semolina 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 2/3 cup heavy cream PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350°F. Pie shell Partially blind-bake the empty pie shell for 30 minutes using parchment paper and dried beans to weigh down the paper to the cool crust to keep it from bubbling up during baking. Blind baking is done to keep a pie crust from getting soggy from a wet filling like pumpkin. After the initial 30 minutes of baking, the crust is pale golden and no longer looks wet. Remove the paper and dried beans and return the crust to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. If it puffs up during this baking gently push the puffed areas down. Before filling, the crust must cool to room temperature; about 30-60 minutes. Raise the oven temperature from 350°F to 425°F. Filling Cook the pumpkin in a heavy saucepan with 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes making the dices pieces into a purée. The water should evaporate. Remove the purée from the heat and let cool. Once it has cooled, add the eggs, semolina, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar and cream. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the blind-baked pie shell. Bake Bake 15 minutes at 425°F, then lower the heat to 350°F and bake another 30 minutes. TO SERVE This seasonal pie is delicious served warm or cold, with or without whipped cream. Et voilà! Debra Fioritto contributes delicious French recipes to Wednesday issues of BonjourParis. Click on her name to read more about her Tour de Forks culinary tours or to collect the many recipes she has shared here. Would you like to propose a story? Submit an article or story idea. Subscribe for free. NEW: exclusive content for subscribers only. Search our library with 7,200+ stories. BonjourParis has been a leading online France travel and French lifestyle site since 1995. View our Top 100 Bestselling Amazon.com Items. (Please wait for Amazon.com widget to load) Want more? View our recommended France-themed books & items. Most recent listings at last pages. The perfect holiday gift….handmade chocolates from France by zChocolat.

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Tarte à la Citrouille ~ French Pumpkin Pie

This French-style pumpkin pie comes from central France and is traditionally served on Toussaint (All Saint’s Day) on November 1^st. It is delicious warm or cold, served with or without whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS

1 homemade or refrigerate 9-inch pie crust
3-1/4 lbs small pumpkin or butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced small
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 Tablespoons semolina
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup heavy cream

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pie shell

Partially blind-bake the empty pie shell for 30 minutes using parchment paper and dried beans to weigh down the paper to the cool crust to keep it from bubbling up during baking. Blind baking is done to keep a pie crust from getting soggy from a wet filling like pumpkin.
After the initial 30 minutes of baking, the crust is pale golden and no longer looks wet. Remove the paper and dried beans and return the crust to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. If it puffs up during this baking gently push the puffed areas down.
Before filling, the crust must cool to room temperature; about 30-60 minutes.
Raise the oven temperature from 350°F to 425°F.

Filling

Cook the pumpkin in a heavy saucepan with 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes making the dices pieces into a purée. The water should evaporate.
Remove the purée from the heat and let cool. Once it has cooled, add the eggs, semolina, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar and cream. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the blind-baked pie shell.

Bake

Bake 15 minutes at 425°F, then lower the heat to 350°F and bake another 30 minutes.

TO SERVE

This seasonal pie is delicious served warm or cold, with or without whipped cream.

Et voilà!

Debra Fioritto contributes delicious French recipes to Wednesday issues of BonjourParis. Click on her name to read more about her Tour de Forks culinary tours or to collect the many recipes she has shared here.

Would you like to propose a story? Submit an article or story idea.

Subscribe for free. NEW: exclusive content for subscribers only. Search our library with 7,200+ stories. BonjourParis has been a leading online France travel and French lifestyle site since 1995.