Basic Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
Dough:

* 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick), diced
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* Flour for rolling the dough

Filling:

* One 15-ounce can unsweetened pure pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)
* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
* 3 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Directions

Make the dough by hand. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean-sized bits of butter. (If the flour/butter mixture gets warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes before proceeding.) Add the egg and stir the doughtogether with a fork or by hand in the bowl. If the dough is dry, sprinkle up to a tablespoon more of cold water over the mixture.

Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor. With the machine fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean-sized bits of butter, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times; don't let the dough form into a ball in the machine. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.) Remove the bowl from the machine, remove the blade, and bring the dough together by hand.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges, leaving about an extra inch hanging over the edge. Tuck the overhanging dough underneath itself to form a thick edge that is even with the rim. Flute the edge as desired. Freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes.

Set separate racks in the center and lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Put a piece of parchment paper or foil over the pie shell and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift sides of the parchment paper to remove the beans. Continue baking until the pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Cool on a rack.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

While the pie shell is cooling make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, half-and-half, spices, and salt until smooth. Return the pie shell to the baking sheet and pour in the filling.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the edges of the filling are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 50 to 60 minutes. (If the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil.) Cool on a rack. Serve room temperature or slightly warm.

* Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, GP. All rights reserved

Reference: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pumpkin-pie-recipe/index.html

Meatless Lasagna

MEATLESS LASAGNA adapted from ( Recipes for a Small Planet)

lasagna noodles, cooked

1 med onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 28oz canned tomatoes

1+ lb. mushrooms, chopped (I use a variety. Recipe calls for white button)

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup ricotta

1 cup cottage cheese (I have used 2 cups of cottage cheese & no ricotta before)

1 egg

1/2 cup parm cheese

3/4 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded

any herbs you may have on hand (Recipe calls for dried oregano, basil, & parsley)

Pre-cook noodles, set aside. Saute' onions & garlic. Add tomatoes, herbs, mushrooms and kidney beans. Simmer on low for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, cottage cheese and egg. (I also add some Locatelli or parm to the mixture, your choice.) Layer lasagna. A tiny bit of sauce, noodles, 1/3 of remaining sauce,1/3 of the ricotta/cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 mozz.cheese, 1/3 parm. cheese, noodles. Repeat with 2 more layers, ending with parm cheese. Bake @ 375* for 30 minutes.

The "Hearty Vegetable Lasagna w/ Mushrooms" can be found on: justveggingout.com. I did make a few changes. I added a ricotta layer when layering, although it's not necessary. Used a variety of mushrooms...shitake, portabellas, white button, etc. Changed out the yellow squash layer, using zucchini slices instead. Used 2 eggplants, not just one. I have a mandoline, so I used long slices of all of the veggies, instead of small slices as pictured on the site. Another big change with the veggies is I did not saute' them in a pan. I baked the slices in the oven til they were soft, about 10 minutes. This is my new favorite. Enjoy!!! (thanks Nathalie)