Sunday, November 6, 2011

Plăcintă cu dovleac (My mom's pumpkin pie, with puff pastry) (Romanian-Moldavian)


As long as I can remember, I was always mad about this pie, but my mom wouldn't make it very often because grating all that pumpkin was pretty exhausting (in the age before food processors and such). So she would make me a deal that if I wanted her to make it I could grate it myself (with the help of my friends who also wanted a piece or two as a reward :D ). Of course I agreed, but still, the pie did not happen as often as I wanted (even employing all that additional voluntary workforce was not that easy to organize). But in the last years, the use of high-tech kitchen gadgets have took all that away, mostly for the best, of course (except the nostalgia) :). 
Of course, that didn't mean we can't have a pumpkin-pie-making party nowadays as well. So, I'm quite giddy about the fact that for this particular cooking feat, I had the manpower of not just one, but two strong men (as you'll be able to observe down below from the pics). The extra hand came this time from our friend Madalin :).
Now, I proudly present to you my version of mom's pumpkin pie, which I can now have anytime I like (and the mood strikes quite a lot, as you'll see for yourselves after tasting this). Enjoy. :)

Ingredients:

  • one medium-big hokkaido (or some other sweet pumpkin) - ours was 1,6 kg
  • 200 g sugar
  • 125 g butter
  • 1/2 vial of lemony flavor
  • zest of one orange
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 2 sheets of puff pastry (2 X 275 g)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Get the pumpkin:

Cut it in half, discard the seeds and insides, and get your slaves friends to start peeling pieces of it. Meanwhile, set one sheet of puff pastry on the bottom of a baking tray:

Check on the laborers kind helpers:

When they're done, grate all the pumpkin pulp in your food processor and put it in a large bowl:

Mix it with the cinnamon, lemon essence, orange zest and the sugar. Melt the butter in a small pan and add it to the pumpkin mass and mix again well. Pour the whole thing in the baking tray.

Cover with the other sheet of puff pastry and put it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Take out:

Cut into squares and dig in! Don't forget to reward everyone involved with at least a piece :)
Note: The main photo shows the filling a bit mushy (flowing out of the pastry) because the pie piece was still very hot (no, we're not the patient type). But when it cools a bit, it sets perfectly, so no worries. Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Now that's a unique recipe! Never seen anything link this, must try!

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  2. Yes, I know it's quite different from the Western European and American idea of a pumpkin pie (made with puree, in a round pie dish, etc).

    It's Romanian :) and it's the pie of our childhoods.

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  3. Oh, this sounds very delicious. It really is a great recipe. Blessings, Catherine

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