There is nothing that my wife looks forward to more at Thanksgiving than my grandmother Nonnie’s pie. It has been 18 years since we first met and shared Thanksgiving dinner, but that has not reduced her excitement at the thought of indulging in this yearly treat. She prepares by attending extra exercise classes, walking the dog another mile, and eating light meals for days before the big day. Below is an SCD version from the cookbook Recipes for the SCD.

Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups (165 g) almond flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (14 g) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 tablespoon honey

Filling
One 1 1/2- to 2-pound fresh butternut squash
1/3 cup (105 g) honey
1/2 cup (115 g) dry curd cottage cheese
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon clove powder
3 egg whites, beaten stiff

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325ºF (170ºC, or gas mark 3). Butter a pie pan.

To make the crust, mix all the crust ingredients together in a bowl. The dough should be moist, but not too runny or soft. Form it into a ball.

Place the ball in the pie pan and press down so that the dough covers the base of the baking dish. Make it as thin as possible.  

Bake until it turns light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not let it over-brown, since it will be staying in the oven much longer once the filling is added.

To make the filling, cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and steam the halves until soft, approximately 20 minutes. Scoop out the insides of the squash and puree in a food processor. Measure out 1 1/2 cups (340 g) pureed squash. Blend the 1 1/2 cups (340 g) pureed squash, honey, cottage cheese, cinnamon, and clove powder in the food processor until well mixed. Slowly fold the egg whites into the blended mixture. Pour the filling into the pie dish.

Place the filled pie in the oven. Cook until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 30-45 minutes.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

ALTERNATE VERSION:
We provided a different set of instructions to make the pie after it first appeared in our cookbook, so that the crust does not turn too brown.

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (170ºC, or gas mark 3). Butter a 8” pyrex (glass) baking dish.

To make the crust, mix all the crust ingredients together in a bowl. The dough should be moist, but not too runny or soft. Place in the baking dish and press down so that the dough covers the base and sides of the baking dish. Make it as thin as possible. Set the crust dish aside.

To make the filling, peel the butternut squash, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and dice the squash into small 1” pieces. Steam the squash until soft, approximately 20-25 minutes, and puree in a food processor. Measure out 1 1/2 cups (340 g) pureed squash, and blend this with the honey, dry curd cottage cheese, cinnamon, and clove powder in the food processor until well mixed. Slowly fold the egg whites into the blended mixture. Pour the filling into a separate baking dish.

Place the pie-filling dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Then place the pie crust dish into the oven, and let both cook separately for 10 minutes. Remove both the dishes from the oven, and pour the semi-cooked pie filling into the crust dish. Place back in oven and cook together for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool.