Raw Pumpkin Pie – ‘Tis the Season!

Raw Pumpkin Pie. Can you believe it? And, it is sweet, gooey and delicious, while also being low in fat and, probably, good for you, too. What could be better than that. This is adapted from Kristina Carillo-Bucaram’s Fully Raw recipe. That woman is so energizingly positive, it is enough to inspire anyone to follow her lead and go completely raw. I am very proud of myself that I made this! Kristina’s recipe uses many more dates than I did, so is much sweeter than mine.
It looks darker than it should in the photo, probably because I was a little overgenerous with the cinnamon. And it was fun going to my first ever pumpkin patch on a farm in Queens, and getting advice on the ‘cookers’ and the ‘cutters.’
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1/2 lb Medjool dates, pitted
1 C pecans
For the Filling:
1 sweet pie (aka, baby) pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks.
1/2 lb dates, pitted
I extremely ripe persimmon
1 Tsp cinnamon
1 sliver, fresh ginger
1 vanilla bean scrape

In a food processor, pulse the nuts and dates until you get a thick, gooey blend. By mistake, I ground the nuts first, and it was fine.  Press the filling out into a pie dish, pressing it with your fingers until it has evenly covered the dish.
Place the pumpkin and all the filling ingredients into a high-speed blender, such as a vitamix. Blend until smooth.
Pour out into the crust.
Place in the freezer for about an hour. Keep checking as you want it to harden but not to completely freeze (as happened to me – I now defrost it slice by slice, which is delish, too)