DISH OF THE WEEK: Fresh Pumpkin Pie with Salty Roasted Pepitas from ONE GIRL COOKIES

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

So I’m cheating a little bit with this one. Instead of choosing a dish I ate out and about in New York City, this week I’m picking a pie that I enjoyed with my family (my immediate family!!) on Thanksgiving.

But the recipe I used comes from a local food business in New York and one that I happen to like very much.

As I was scouring the web for an interesting pumpkin pie recipe, I came across one that sounded very appealing with a cornmeal crust and salty pumpkin seeds. I added it to my list of possible recipe choices. Then I noticed who wrote the recipe and where it was from and it became a must!

The recipe comes from Dawn Casale and Dave Crofton, the owners of One Girl Cookies, a lovely Brooklyn based bake shop that I happen to visit regularly on the Brownstone Brooklyn tour I lead (shameless plug: gift cards are now available here). The recipe is featured in their cookbook which is also available for purchase. I swear I don’t get any commission from either of those links (but I should!)

The pie was fantastic. It didn’t use condensed milk but rather half and half which kept it nice and jiggly (as my three year old described it). What really made this interesting and super successful was the grainy and crisp cornmeal crust (felt very American) and the salty pepitas garnished on top. My wife originally balked at the idea of a salt component in pumpkin pie, but I reminded her of the sweet salty combination with caramel and chocolate chip cookies and after tasting it, she too was won over.

I’m not sure this pie is sold at any of their shops, but it’s easy enough to get your hand’s on the recipe and the ingredients and in this continual era of quarantine, it makes for a delicious holiday distraction.