Raw Pumpkin Pie
Fair warning on this one…it is a little time consuming but boy, is it worth it. I have had a couple of “pumpkin” pies that are made with cashews and carrots with pumpkin pie spice. They were good but tasted like carrot pie with cinnamon and nutmeg! Wanting a real pumpkin pie, but knowing that the challenge would be to get the starch taste out of it to make it palatable, I dehydrated it and then, softened it up again! Never going over the 116 degrees, the enzymes, vitamins and minerals are still intact!
Pumpkin is full of carotenoids which are really good at neutralizing free radicals. Pumpkin is also high in lutein, which helps protect your eyes and prevent macular degeneration. Full of antioxidants, pumpkins also have a lot of common nutrients, like iron, zinc, and fiber. Good for you and so good to eat! You will need to start this the day before. Actual time making it is not bad, but you will need to do a little soaking and dehydrating.
Raw Pumpkin Pie
SERVES 12
Crust
- 2 cups pecans (previously soaked and dried)
- 4 dates (soaked until soft)
- Put pecans into food processor with dates. Process until well ground.
- Press into 8″ tart pan
, wrap with plastic wrap or paper towels and place in refrigerator.
Filling
- 1 medium sugar pumpkin (not the kind you carve for Halloween) about 5 cups chopped
- 3 cups water (divided)
- 1/2 cup agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (not raw but used in raw food cooking)
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 1/2 cup cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- The day before you will start preparing the pumpkin. This is important because if you used the pumpkin completely raw, it would have a very unpleasant starchy quality to it.
- Peel the pumpkin and slice in half. Slice into 1 inch slices. Chop the slices into pieces that are about 1/8th inch thick. So, the slices will look like a 1″ square that is 1/8″ thick.
- Place on dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 116 for about 3-4 hours. Make sure you remove them before they are hard!
- Place dehydrated pumpkin in a bowl. Cover with 2 cups of the water and let sit for about 3 hours. You can do this the night before and just put it in the refrigerator and leave it.
- Soak the cashews and dates at the same time and you will be ready to rock in the morning!
- In the food processor, place all ingredients except the remaining 1 cup water and cashews. Process until it becomes a mash.
- Add the cashews and process until well mixed.
- Transfer half the mixture to the vitamix. Add 1/2 cup water and blend until smooth. This will require some patience and the plunger but the results are well worth it.
- Repeat with remaining filling and 1/2 cup water. Mix the two batches together then spoon into the crust. Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
Jennifer wrote on November 18, 2011
I have another question. I don’t have a Vitamix but am guessing I can achieve good results with my twin-gear Green Star juicer. What do you think?
Jennifer wrote on November 18, 2011
My understanding is that cashews, because of the way they are extracted from the shell, are not truly raw. Because of this, I never use them. Can you recommend a suitable substitute for this recipe? I really want to try it! Thank you. Jennifer
Susan wrote on November 18, 2011
Dear Jennifer: Navitis Naturals carries raw cashews. Also, since they are such a minor player in this recipe, only 1/2 cup, unless you are determined to be 100% raw, you will still get tons of raw goodness from this recipe. The cashews are used for texture and there really isn’t another nut that gives that without imparting a ton of it’s own taste. I have not used a twin-gear Green Star juicer. Maybe you can let us know how it worked?
kate wrote on November 5, 2011
If the pumpkin preparation is for getting rid of the starchiness, ….where does it go? If you don’t ever rinse it, and use the water that you soaked the pumpkin in, what’s the point? Maybe I am missing something….I let my pumpkin get a wee bit more dehydrated than I would have liked, but I guess soaking it will plump it back up. I’m interested to know what you have to say about the starch and where it goes….thanks, k
Donovan Taylor Busby District wrote on October 7, 2011
I do not have a dehydrator what should I do
Kristine wrote on October 3, 2011
I love your pics and the recipe sounds delicious. i had it bookmarked to make later but I then decided it was too much work for me right now. I decided to keep it simple and not to dehydrate the pumpkin and I loved it. I did not think it tasted at all starchy. I had an issue with the dehydrating part because I thought that if I were going to eat a raw pie than I wanted the raw juice from the pumpkin too.
Nice recipe though. I might give it a go in the future to try it out and compare it to the reg. raw pie that I make.
You should be able to sub sweet potato or carrots with no problems. My local raw food restaurant uses these for “pumpkin pie” in the off season.
thanks!
Ruby wrote on August 8, 2011
This recipe looks dee-vine! Do you think I can subsitute sweet potato for the pumpkin? I’m more of a sweet potato pie type of gal, and so is my husband. I’m trying to transition to a more raw vegan based diet because I have GERD and am finding a lot of the cooked foods makes my whole GI system feel horrible. I’ve been eating raw for a few days and am not experiencing the symptoms. So this would make my day to be able to make a raw pumpkin pie (or sweet potato?)! Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes.
Susan wrote on August 9, 2011
You can always try but since I haven’t made it that way, I can’t guarantee results.
Paula Noll wrote on April 2, 2011
Thanks so much for sharing your technique for this pie! I just poured the filling in the crust and LOVE the taste!!! I’ve been hesitant to try a raw pumpkin pie as I haven’t cared for raw butternut squash recipes and was afraid the taste would be similar. It got me thinking about the butternut squash again–do you think the dehydrating and rehydrating process might also help with butternut squash? I might try a simple soup and dial down the sweeteners and cashews and leave out the coconut butter. Thanks again. Paula
Kate wrote on February 18, 2011
Susan, that pie is so beautiful. What kind of pie plate did you use to get that scalloped effect?
Susan wrote on February 18, 2011
It is a tart pan. 🙂
Cathleen wrote on November 26, 2010
My Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie was a hit with the Vegans but the Carnivores thought it looked to raw to eat. I always tell people when eating raw; “Don’t think of it as the traditional food but just keep in mind something new because the consistency is different.” It was the most pumpkinny tasking pie I ever ate and was so scrumptious that I ate 2 pieces. It set up nicely but next time I think I’d like to dehydrate the finished product a bit like Tony G said just to absorb some of the liquid and make it look more “cooked”. Thanks Susan
Cathleen