I realize this might be controversial, but I don’t like traditional Thanksgiving food—the turkey, the gravy, the potatoes, the green bean casserole. So much of it is one-note, heavy and rich, too often spiced not enough and with little imagination, lacking in any of the things that give zing and satisfaction to a meal (except you, cranberry relish. I see you). In my vegetarian years, I hated the lack of good entrees and felt relegated to the gustatory sidelines, expected to eat potatoes and wait for dessert. And then there’s the biggest truth bomb: I don’t like pumpkin pie. Some of the time, the filling gets watery and pulls away from the crust, which is unappealing to a food-texture nerd like myself. Most of the time, it doesn’t have much flavor. 100% of the time, I’m left wishing I’d foregone the pumpkin pie in favor of more apple pie.

In my search for the tasty, easy-to-make, Thanksgiving food of my dreams, I spent weeks reading cookbooks and brainstorming before I came up with my great idea: a savory pumpkin pie. But much as I’d love to tout my own brilliance, I’m not the first person to come up with this idea; when I started researching, I found a slew of savory pumpkin pie recipes on the web. Most of them, however, were fussy, calling for the baker to make pumpkin puree from scratch (I don’t have time for that, and having done it before, I can tell you the stuff out of the can is better than what I can make) or to include lots of sliced onions in the pumpkin custard, an idea that offended my aforementioned food-texture sensibilities. Add to that that many of the recipes called for tiny amounts of uncommon ingredients, and I was back to the drawing board. What I finally came up with is a vegetarian main sexy enough to tempt a carnivore, a seasonal entrée with pizzazz—this Parmesan-enriched, parsley-sage pesto-topped, savory pumpkin pie.

Savory Pumpkin Pie

Sources: Pie crust recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma; parsley-sage pesto adapted from The Kitchn; custard from I Thought There Would Be Free Food

Makes 1 pie, comfortably serving 6–8 people

Active time: 45–60 minutes; total time: ~2 hours

Note: If the thought of making your own pie crust gives you anxiety, feel free to substitute one pre-made, refrigerated pie crust. I won’t tell.

Walnut Piecrust Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3–4 tablespoons ice water

Pumpkin-Parmesan Custard Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I use 1%)
• 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup grated, shaved or shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Parsley-Sage Pesto Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup grated, shaved, or shredded Parmesan
• 1 large bunch parsley (~2 cups)
• 1 0.5 ounce package sage (~3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Make the crust: Do your future self a favor by laying out a sheet of plastic wrap on your counter—you’ll wrap your piecrust in this shortly—and make sure you have a large bowl handy.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s warm, add the nuts and toast until they’re golden brown and fragrant. This will likely take 5–10 minutes, depending on your stove. Transfer the nuts from the skillet to a plate and let them cool slightly.
• Note: If you’re planning to make the parsley-sage pesto, toast a full cup of walnuts and then set a half-cup aside while you make the crust.
• When the nuts have cooled, place them in the bowl of a food processor with the flour and salt, and pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
• Drop the chunks of butter into the flour-nut mixture and pulse until the butter is coarsely ground. Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and pulse 2–3 times, then dump the contents into a large bowl. Gently press a bit of the dough together; if it holds, proceed to the next step. If not, add additional water as necessary but note that the dough should still be loose and a bit crumbly.
• Gather the dough into a loose clump and transfer it to the plastic wrap. Use the corners of the plastic wrap to form the dough into a disc about 2 inches tall. Make sure the dough is completely covered in plastic, then transfer to your refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
• Note: If you don’t have a food processor, this crust can also be made by hand, minus the walnuts. Use a pastry cutter or mezzaluna to cut the butter into the flour-salt mixture and then add water, stirring the dough with a fork, before gathering into a ball and refrigerating.
• Make the custard: While the dough is chilling, whisk the eggs together in a medium bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• Assemble the pie: Preheat the oven to 400°F and position a rack in the bottom third of your oven. Prepare a place to roll out the pie crust, dusting the surface with a bit of flour and setting out a rolling pin, sharp knife, and pie plate. Take out your piecrust; if it’s been chilling for more than an hour, you might need to let it warm up slightly by setting it on the counter for 5–10 minutes.
• When the crust is roll-able, do so! I suggest working from the middle of the dough out, easing up on the pressure when you get close to the edge, and using a fair amount of flour to make sure it doesn’t stick. Once the crust is about half flattened, try to gently pick it up, dust your work surface with flour, flip the crust over, dust again, and continue rolling. Don’t be afraid to use some flour, just be sure to brush off any excess before baking.
• Transfer the crust to a pie plate and trim away any extra dough before crimping or fluting or doing whatever helps you express your pie creativity. Pour the custard into the crust and carefully transfer the pie plate to the oven. Bake for ~40–45 minutes. The pie will be done when the top looks shiny, rather than dull, and a knife inserted into the middle of the pie comes out relatively clean (a few specks shouldn’t be a problem). Note that overbaking may result in cracks in the filling (ahem, as you can see in my photo above).
• Note: Baking the pie low in the oven and at a relatively high heat will help ensure that the bottom of your crust cooks without pre-baking, but be careful! If your oven runs hot, you might want to reduce the heat by 10–15 degrees.
• Note: Don’t toss your dough scraps! Either save them in the freezer until you have enough to make another pie, or brush them with a beaten egg, dust with a little cinnamon and sugar, and bake until golden brown. I consider these crispies a bonus for the cook and am loathe to share them, unless someone is kind enough to do the dishes for me.
• Make the pesto: Toast the walnuts and grate the Parmesan, if you haven’t yet. Chop the tough ends off the parsley and sage and discard, then roughly chop the rest of the herbs, stems and all, and set aside.
• Add the walnuts and Parmesan to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is uniformly ground. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to your desired consistency. If at any point the mixture becomes too thick to process, add a tablespoon of oil or so to help it along.
• Note: The color of the pesto will darken as it’s exposed to air, but the flavor will remain just as good. The pesto is best eaten the day it’s made.
• Once the pie is out of the oven and has cooled for about 15 minutes, slice and serve it with dollops of the pesto. This pie is as good warm as it is at room temperature, making it ideal for a Thanksgiving buffet.