Credit: Jess Dyer, DipION; nutritional therapist at Jessipes www.Jessipes.co.uk

Serves  6-8 | Preparation: 30 min | Cook time: 35 min | Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Ingredients:

The filling

• 2 small pumpkins (approx. 745g each) or 1 large butternut squash, quartered and seeds reserved
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 6 medjool dates, pitted
• 3 large free-range eggs, beaten

The crust

• 80g (¾ cup) whole pecans
• 170g (1½ cup) almond flour
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 6 medjool dates, pitted
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Topping (optional)

• 6 pecan nuts
• Drizzle coconut oil
• Drizzle maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Lay the pumpkin on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Sprinkle with nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup and coconut oil and bake for 45 minutes until soft.
3. Whilst the pumpkin is cooking, make the pastry crust.
4. Add the pecans to a food processor and process until they have turned into a coarse flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and process for 15 seconds, until a sticky dough forms.
5. Press the dough into an 8 or 9-inch pie plate (or springform pan for easy release), spreading it up the sides and covering the bottom. Prick a few shallow holes in the crust with a fork to keep it from bubbling during baking.
6. Once the pumpkin has finished baking, reduce the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4, remove the baking tray from the oven and allow the pieces of pumpkin to cool.
7. Whilst cooling, bake the pastry crust in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove it from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
8. Once the pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin and discard the skin. You should have about 600g of cooked pumpkin flesh. Don’t forget to scrape out the bits in the tray and the maple syrup. Put in a food processor and whiz until smooth, adding the eggs and dates. Mix until well blended.
9. Pour the filling into the crust and bake at 180C/350F for 35 minutes, or until the custard has set but is still slightly jiggly in the centre. If the crust starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the pie with foil and continue baking.
10. Whilst the pie is cooking, wash the stringy bits of squash off the seeds, dry them and lay them flat on a tray along with 6 pecan nuts drizzled with maple syrup and coconut oil. Place in the oven with the pie for the last 10 minutes until crispy.
11. Remove the pie from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to put in the fridge, refrigerate until chilled, then sprinkle the seeds on top and serve with a cup of chai tea!