Sunday was the first, and probably the biggest Thanksgivings we are going to this week. It was my family, which consists of my mom, 8 siblings (plus a few spouses) and 9 little’s. A small little house bursting at the seems with a bunch of shit heads. There was a pumpkin pie food fight, secret Santa’s name picking that had to be redone 3 times (because we cant count) and much to much time devoted to sister selfies. It was a blast.
And my mom always requests everyone to bring something to diner so I of course wanted to contribute a pie. One pie, something that would appeal to as many of those crazies with dietary restrictions as possible, that was a not gross, but still not full of crap, and that people would want to eat. So I went with an apple and acorn squash pie that happen to be vegan, gluten free, and a little on the less sweet side. (Look at me trying to be all nice an accommodating)
But guess what. My mom, well she bought 5 other freaking pies from the farm stand to supplement my pie. And yeah, when the time came for dessert my pie got a few nibbles, and I was told that it was fantastic, but they all went for the super sugary, full on butter and fat, custard pies… Dietary restrictions thrown aside. And I am ok with that because my pie got divided up between a few of the ladies and they ended up easting it for breakfast. So my pie turned out to be the day after thanksgiving breakfast pie. And that might even be better then being the night of pie cause everyone knows that left over pie eaten for breakfast is the best kind of pie!
So if you are looking for a good pie that is great the day of Thanksgiving and be good for breakfast the next day, this is the pie for you.
The stuff. Apples, an acorn squash (only going to need half), some old fashion oats, earth balance, brown sugar and a lemon. Also need a little bit of cinnamon, ginger, and salt. oh, and a bit of water.
Oats, earth balance, some sugar, a pinch of salt and a bit of cinnamon all go into a food processor to blend. While its blending, add in a tablespoon or two of water to help all the stuff come together. Once it starts to pull away from the sides, turn off and call it ready.
remove about 1/2 a cup of the crumb and set aside for topping and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish until it looks like a pie crust.
Stick into the oven to pre bake.
The crust is in the oven and the apples and the squash are not going to cut themselves up so you are going to have to do it. And personal preference here, peel the stuff or don't (I wouldn't usually but I know the people eating the pie and they are peeled people) So remove all seed and stems and slice both the apple and squash intto 1/2 inch slices. Cut the squash into pieces that are similar to the apple,
Earth balance into the skillet first then topped with all the chopped stuff, the spices and some sugar and stick it on the stove to cook down. You want to get the pan hot with a medium high heat then turn it down to a low heat, stirring and them placing a lid on the stuff until the squash and apples are slightly tender (not falling apart) and the sugar has caramelized.
And note.. If you notice that the sugar is caralized before the squash and apples are tender, just add in a splash of water and mix around to prevent the sugar from burning.
Filling all ready to go, just add in the juice of the lemon here.
The left over crust crumble, some more earth balance, cinnamon, oats and sugar get mix together to make a little crumble to sprinkle on top.
And now all there is left to do is to put it all togehert. Filling goes into pre-baked crust.
And gets topped with the crumble.
Into the oven it goes (give it about 45-50 minutes to bake)
And pulled out when the top is all golden brown and smelling pretty.
Left to cool for a few minutes, then sliced into thinck pieces and shared all around!
Now thats a pie that's meant for breakfast!
-C
Apple Acorn Squash Pie with an Oat Crust
Makes 1 pie
The Crust
- 3 cups old fashion oats
- 2 tablesppon brown sugar
- 4 tabelsoons earth balance
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Filling
- 1/2 acorn squash (about 3 cups chopped)
- 4-5 apples (any kind will do)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 lemon
- 4 tablespoons earth balance
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
Crumb topping
- 1/2 crumb that is set aside
- 1/2 cup old fashion oats
- 2 tablespoon earth balance
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3-5 tablespoon brown sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
Start by making the crust. This crust is going to be prebaked so preheat the oven to 375.
Stick the oats, some super soft or even melted earth balance, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and a splash of water into a food processer and pulse until a fine crumbly crumb is made. Remove about 1/2 cup of the crumb and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish evenly and once you are happy with the looks of the crust, stick it into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to brown.
While crust is prebaking, peel (if you want), core and slice apples into ½ inch pieces. Now grab the squash while you are at it and cut it in half, remove seeds, peel (if you want) and slice into ½ inch pieces (make them about the same size as the apple pieces.) Get yourself a big skillet and add in the earth balance, all the chopped up apples and squash, the spices and the sugar and stick on the stove one medium high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, the butter all melted and the sugar is starting to melt, turn heat down to medium low, stick a lid on the pan, and cook for a few more minutes (like 7 minutes) until the squash and apples are slightly fork tender , but not falling apart. If the sugar starts to caramelizes before the stuff is tender, add in a splash or two of water to stop the sugar from burning. Remove from heat, add in the juice of the lemon, and set aside.
And for the crumble. Just add all the crumble ingredients together and mix around (I used my fingers).
So crust is pre-baked, filling is precooked, and crumble is ready. So now all you need to do is put it together.
Dump the filling into the crust and then top with the crumble. Stick the pie into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the filling is fork tender and the crumble on top is nice and golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is even better), and serve it on up!