Grated pumpkin pie with crunchy spice star biscuits

I fantasized about making this pie for a long time until I finally got my head around to actually making it. The crust is filled with grated pumpkin flesh mixed with some sugar and chopped nuts. An extra piece of crust is rolled and cut in little star shapes, which are then dredged through a spicy sugar mix. After they get the sweet-spicy treatment, the stars are placed on top of the filling.

The result is just as lovely as I imagined it would be :). Enjoy.
Recipe inspired from here.

Last year: American pumpkin pie (from scratch).
Two years ago: Lemon pepper grilled chicken.
Three years ago: Fritata with bell pepper and Tirolean sausages.




Ingredients (for a 23 cm or 9 inch tart tin):

For the crust:

• 400 g flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 200 g butter
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

For the filling:

• 700 g fresh pumpkin flesh, grated
• juice from half a lemon
• 10-11 tablespoons sugar or to taste
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons wheat semolina
• one small handful of walnuts, coarsely chopped

For dusting the star biscuits:

• 1/4 teaspoon of each: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger
• 2 tablespoons powder sugar

Mix the flour with the sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cube the butter in it and mix with your hands until everything resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and milk and mix just until everything comes together. Take 2/3 of the dough and line the tart tin with it.

Put the rest of the dough in the fridge. Start up the oven at 180 degrees C. Mix the ingredients for the filling and pour it into the prepared crust. Level the filling with the back of a spoon.

Take the remaining dough out of the fridge and roll it out to maximum 0.5 cm thickness. Using a star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out little biscuits from it:

Mix the dusting ingredients (the sugar and spices) and dredge the biscuits generously through it. As you coat each biscuit, put it on top of the pie:

Continue until all the dough has been used. If you have any sugar dusting left, just sprinkle it evenly on top of the whole thing.

Put it in the preheated oven and bake it for 25-30 minutes or until done. 

Take out, slice and dig in! :)