Vegan Eggplant Pumpkin Pie

Mention the word ‘vegan’ to us a few years back, and the only response we could elicit would be a carnivorous roar. Somehow, along the way, we were lucky enough to be gradually introduced to the wonderful plant-based world (in the form of excellent lunches at Living Food, followed by visits to engaging vegan blogs and IGs) and we realized just how delicious and interesting a meatless meal can be!

Here’s one of our vegan attempts at home, when we have some extra time in the kitchen:

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Mash

2 large onions

10 cloves garlic

250g pumpkin

¼ cup soy milk

Salt

Cayenne pepper

Parsley flakes

Grilled Eggplants

2 large eggplants

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Tomato Sauce

10 medium-sized ripe tomatoes

Dried oregano

Cayenne pepper

Salt

Steps:

1. Peel and dice the pumpkin, onions and garlic.

2. Boil in salted water, medium heat, for about 15 minutes.

3. Take only the pumpkin cubes and some of the garlic cloves out (they should be easily mashable with a fork at this point). Let the onions and the rest of the garlic continue to simmer.

4. The fun part: mash them all! We love using this patty griller thingy for mash-related tasks in the kitchen. Hmm, now that we’ve mentioned it, don’t think we have ever actually used it to grill patties.

5. Add some soy milk to smoothen the mashed pumpkin. Some extra flavours would be helpful as well. We used cayenne pepper and parsley flakes. And BAM! You’ve got your mash! 

Now, moving on to the filling…

1. Dice the tomatoes, slice the eggplants.

2. Chuck the tomatoes into the simmering onions and garlic you’ve got going on earlier. Flavour liberally with oregano, add a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt, cover with a lid and let the tomatoes work their magic. The starchy stock from boiling the pumpkin earlier on helps to thicken the tomato sauce much quicker.

3. Mix some olive oil with salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover each eggplant slice well in the olive oil mix and let rest for a few minutes.

4. Grill them until they turn that lovely brown.

5. Check on the tomatoes, the consistency should be quite paste-y at this point. Once you have achieved the desired consistency, turn off the flame.

6. Eggplant pie, assemble! In a shallow baking dish, line up the grilled eggplant pieces on the bottom of the dish. 

7. Pour in the tomato paste, and cover the areas between the eggplant pieces.

8. Top with the pumpkin mash. You can use a fork to create patterns on the mash, if you're into that. 

9. Bake at 180 Celsius for 40 minutes. 

10. Let cool for a bit and dig in! 

Do you have any great vegan recipes to share? Let us know, comment below =)