free-form pumpkin pie/tart

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

The pastry is amazing. Flaky, almost like puff pastry. Try it.

Add a simple salad of spicy rocket leaves with salt, pepper, good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The freshness and pepperiness of the salad is perfect with the buttery, rich tart.

It would generously serve 4 for lunch or dinner. It could serve 6 as an entree.

Pastry

1 1/4 cups plain flour

a generous pinch of salt

150g butter, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche

a good squeeze of lemon juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup iced sparkling water (substitute with iced tap water)

In a food processor combine all ingredients for the pastry except the water. mix until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the soda water in a stream until the pastry comes together in a ball. Do not overmix. Pour onto plastic wrap, push into a rough disc shape, wrap up well and refrigerate for an hour or up to a day or two.

Filling

1 small butternut pumpkin

1-2 tbsp butter

2 medium onions, sliced in half circles

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground nutmeg

good pinch of ground chilli

1/4 tsp smoky papria

3/4 cup gouda cheese, grated

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves

For the pumpkin.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Peel, then cut the pumpkin into 1.5cm dice. Mix with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 25-35 minutes or until cooked, and getting dark golden around the edges. Remove from the oven. This can be stored at room temperature for a few hours, or refrigerate for a day until ready to assemble.

For the onion.

Put the butter into a small pan. Add the onion, salt and sugar. Cook gently for 10-20 mins or until the onion is soft and starting to brown gently. Do not cook over high heat. Stir in the paprika, nutmeg and chilli. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Roll the pastry out to make a 40cm round. Mix together the pumpkin, onion, cheese and sage. Season to taste with plenty of pepper and salt as required. Place the pastry onto the baking sheet then pile the pumpkin mix in the middle, leaving a 3-5cm border around each edge. Fold up the edges to semi-enclose the filling. This pastry does not need glazing - it goes lovely and brown without it.

Bake for 30-40 mins or until golden brown.

Serve with a crisp fresh salad and enjoy.

yum!