Elegant Pumpkin Pie

Chicken and Pumpkin Pie Encased in Filo Pastry

Just Add	Preparation
	• Preheat oven to 360F/180C • Have the non-stick spring form pan ready with the base in place and the lever tightened. Test to make sure the pan base is firmly in place. • If your spring form pan is not non-stick, grease the base and walls with butter or oil
	Marinade chicken
• 1 pound/ 500 grams chicken pieces • 1 tablespoon oil • 2 tablespoons soy sauce • 1 heaped teaspoon cornflour • salt, pepper to taste	• Mix together cornflour, oil, salt, pepper and soy sauce and add the chicken pieces • Combine well • Cover and leave the chicken in the refrigerator to absorb the marinade
	Prepare the pumpkin
• 1 pound/ 500 grams butternut pumpkin • salted water to boil pumpkin • 1 heaped tablespoon sour cream • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds • 1 tablespoon finely cut chives or parsley • salt, pepper	• Trim, remove seeds and wash the pumpkin. Dice the washed pumpkin • Boil in salted water till tender • Drain excess water • Mash, add cumin seeds and season with salt and pepper to suit your taste • Add sour cream. Combine • Leave this for a moment
	Cook Chicken Filling
• 1 tablespoon oil	• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a fry pan and cook the marinaded chicken • When cooked, leave aside while you prepare the pastry
	Prepare Filo
• 15 sheets of filo pastry • 1 cup good quality vegetable oil or vegetable oil spray	• Oil each filo sheet on both sides. Spray with vegetable oil or brush the oil lightly onto each sheet with a pastry brush • Be sure the edges are well oiled • Drape the oiled sheet over the spring form pan, and gently press it down into the base so that it evenly lines the base and wall of the pan. The sheets will over hang the top of the spring form pan edge. Drape them at angles to each other so that they criss cross one another
	Filling The Pie
	• Spoon half the seasoned pumpkin into the base of the pastry lined pan • Gently place all the cooked meat filling • Add the remainder of the pumpkin filling • Now, wrap up the pie by gently folding over the filo leaves. Leave the outer top leaves loose to achieve the effect of a loose delicate crown of filo
	Glaze, Bake, Plate
• The remainder of the oil	• Spray oil over the top taking care to spray all the sheets and into every nook and cranny. It is the oil that makes the pie brown beautifully. Alternatively, use a pastry brush to brush the oil as a glaze over the filo pastry • Bake for 45 minutes. As soon as it is golden brown, take it out.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before plating.

To remove the pie from the spring form pan, release the lever to loosen the pumpkin pie from the pan. Remove the walls of the pan, leaving the baked pie on the base.

Plate the pie beautifully.

Tips

It is best to marinade the chicken meat for at least a couple of hours prior to pan frying.

Be sure to work on a large clean flat surface with sufficient room to lay two sets of pastry - space for one set of sheets being oiled and additional space for oiled pastry sheets as they are completed.

Rice bran oil is the preferred vegetable oil as it suits cooking at high temperatures.

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