Pumpkin Pie using - - it's a surprise........keep reading

UPDATE:  I told you I would let you know how Christmas dessert of carrot 'pumpkin cheesecake' was received at dinner.  Well, Mr. I-Hate-Carrots devoured the cheesecake saying it was the best one he had ever eaten!!!!  I opted not to tell him about the carrots....my bad....


In a land where pumpkins are seldom seen and canned pumpkin

is never seen, I was grousing to a Mexican friend that I really wanted a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  The dinner was roasted chicken breasts, some homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Sort of Thanksgiving-ish.  But the dessert.......I REALLY wanted some pumpkin pie. 

After listening to me whine, my friend Carmen said 'why don't you make something that 'tastes' like pumpkin?  You know me, I am always up for a challenge.  Ok, so what tastes like pumpkin but isn't?  Are you ready????  Roasted carrots!  Yeah, I couldn't believe that one either. 

As a foodie, I had to give it a try.  I peeled a carrot, cut it in quarters (lengthwise) and put it on a dish.  I drizzled a bit of olive oil (not extra virgin) on it and roasted it in the toaster oven for about 30 minutes.  I took it out, mashed it up and gave it a taste.  Darn if it didn't taste like pumpkin! 

I wasn't sure how many roasted carrots it would take to equal a 16 oz can of pumpkin puree, so I started with 1 pound of raw carrots.  I roasted them, then put them on the scale.  Only about 8 oz after roasting.   I needed more, so I put another pound plus one extra carrot into the oven to roast.  The total weight of the roasted carrots was just a tad over 16 oz.  Perfect.  (note:  I weighed the raw carrots after I had peeled them and cut off the stem ends)

I put them in a colander over a bowl to cool, just in case there was any residual liquid.  I did not want to have 'liquidy' pumpkin – I mean carrots. 

While they were cooling, I prepared my crust and the rest of the filling.  I used the recipe from the Libby pumpkin website –I got off the internet. 

When the pie was served, we had guests but I had told no one including Pete. my secret, they were raving about the pie!  Where did I find the pumpkin?  Did I have someone bring it down for me?  After we had all finished our pie, I let them in on the secret. 

I have to admit that I would never have guessed carrots would taste so much like pumpkin, but the roasting is the trick.  My next dessert using carrots?  Pumpkin cheesecake for Christmas dinner AND one of the male guests hates carrots but loves pumpkin......... bet I can fool him!  I will keep you posted..

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