All-Natural Kabocha Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch (no canned pumpkin)

This all-natural Kabocha pumpkin pie pecan tart is a cross between a classic pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. Oven-roasted Kabocha squash gives this pumpkin pie recipe a natural sweetness and nuttiness right out of the gate.  Add velvety smooth mascarpone, a little heavy cream, homemade pumpkin pie spice, and this dessert is a holiday home run!  To round it all out, the Biscoff cookie crust and Pecan Crunch topping give this pie a perfectly balanced texture with every bite. And if you’re in a hurry this holiday season, go ahead and substitute Libby’s canned pumpkin! It’ll still be delicious.

What is Kabocha Squash + What Does it Taste Like?

For this recipe, I’m using the Italian Delica Kabocha squash — it’s sweeter than ever and makes a perfect pumpkin pie filling. Kabocha squash is a variety of delicious Japanese squash with a squatty shape, dark green skin, and lighter green and grey striping with bright orange flesh. When cooked (especially roasted), this squash has a very soft, creamy consistency with a rich, intensely sweet, and nutty, and chestnut flavor.

These qualities make Kabocha a perfect winter squash to oven-roast, steam, fry, or bake with.  It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes like this pumpkin pie tart, or in a fall focaccia bread, or diced and added to risotto. When kabocha is oven roasted, it forms a caramelized exterior making it especially delicious served in grain salads, baked into pies, cakes, and other desserts. The seeds are edible too. They just need to be cleaned, salted, and roasted making them a healthy snack or salad topper.  For savory dishes, pair this squash with fresh herbs like rosemary and sage and with hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano. You can store the whole, uncut squash for up to five months in a cool, dry, and dark place making it pretty handy to have in the pantry.

How to Make Kabocha Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch

1. Preheat oven 425°F/220°C. + roast the kabocha.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add peeled and diced Kabocha in one layer. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until fork-tender and slightly caramelized on the edges. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F/176°C.
2. Reduce the oven heat to 350°F/176°C. + prepare the tart pan.  Lightly butter a rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom and line it with parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides.
3. Make + bake Biscoff cookie crust. Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to crush the cookies until they resemble coarse sand. Add the melted butter and combine using a fork or your hands. Add the cookie mixture to the prepared tart pan (or pie plate) and distribute evenly. Press the mixture down using a glass jar or the back of your hands. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until set. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack while you prepare the kabocha pumpkin filling and Pecan Crunch.
4. Prepare the Pecan Crunch. Melt the butter and pour it over pecans, add sugar and salt and toss to coat the nuts and set aside until ready to decorate the tart.
5. Prepare the pumpkin filling. In the bowl of a food processor (or using a handheld mixer and medium mixing bowl), add roasted kabocha, mascarpone, heavy cream, milk, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, and salt and process until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg, and blend until combined, and add the flour. Pulse a few more times just until the flour is mixed in. 
6. Pour + Decorate + Bake. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust, decorate it with Pecan Crunch and bake for approximately 40minutes, or until the top is set and cooked through. The edges will slightly puff up when the tart is ready. Remove it from the oven to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours and even better overnight and Enjoy!

Can I Freeze Pumpkin Pie?

Yes, you can freeze pumpkin pie and this pumpkin pie tart.  Make sure it’s room temperature or cold before freezing because you want the pie to freeze as quickly as possible.  If you’re freezing a whole pumpkin pie wrap it securely in sustainable plastic wrap. Add a layer of aluminum foil over the plastic wrap and pop it into the freezer. Thaw the pumpkin pie in the refrigerator overnight (or for about 8-9 hours).  If you’re freezing sliced portions, wrap 2-3 slices of pumpkin pie in parchment paper or wax paper and then with plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag or other airtight freezer container.  Thaw sliced pumpkin pie in the fridge overnight or on the countertop. You can freeze a pumpkin pie for 6 to  9 months in the freezer, but it would never last that long around our house.

Kabocha Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch tips + tricks + FAQ’s

• Is Kabocha squash a pumpkin?  Kabocha (Ka-boh-cha) is a type of winter squash that is a Japanese variety of the species Cucurbita maxima. It is also called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin in North America. It’s related to gourds and pumpkins and is the sweetest variety out there.
• Can you eat the skin of Kabocha squash?  You can eat the skin of the Kabocha squash and it’s often required to be intact for some traditional Japanese dishes like tempura Kabocha. However, most cooks like to ensure the dish highlights the beautiful orange-colored flesh and often peel the squash before cooking with it.
• Is Kabocha squash healthy?  Kabocha squash is high in beta carotene, vitamins C and B, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, fiber, and it’s relatively low in calories and carbs compared to sweet potatoes and even butternut squash.
• How many carbs are in Kabocha squash/Pumpkin?  For every 1 cup of Kabocha squash, there are 9g net carbs and 1 gram of fiber making it a better option than sweet potatoes (23g net carbs) or butternut squash (13g net carbs) per cup if you’re watching your carb intake.
• How long can you freeze pumpkin pie?  You can freeze a pumpkin pie for 6 to  9 months in the freezer, but it would never last that long around our house.

Let’s get started!

Kabocha Pumpkin Pie Tart w/Pecan Crunch

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• Author: Kelly
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 12 to 18 Servings 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Don’t just make any pumpkin pie this year! All-natural oven-roasted Japanese Kabocha squash makes the perfect unexpected and delicious holiday dessert the whole family will love. Pecan-Crunch topping and a Biscoff cookie crust give this fall dessert everything it needs to put it over the top. But feel free to go ahead and dollop it with whipped cream.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Pumpkin Tart ingredients

• 1 pound 5 ounces raw Kabocha squash, diced (about 1/2 of a medium squash)(650g) OR use 13 ounces (365g) Libby’s canned Pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese) (45g)
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream, room temperature (75g)
• 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature (or evaporated milk)(26g)
• 3 ounces sugar (scant 1/2 cup) (85g)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (1g)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon homemade pumpkin pie spice (or McCormick’s brand recommended) (4g)
• 1 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract (or favorite brand) (5g)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (1.5 to 3g)
• 1 large egg (50g)
• 1 tablespoon flour (15g)

Biscoff Cookie Crust ingredients

• 1/2 recipe of a 2-Ingredient Biscoff Cookie Crust

Pecan Crunch Ingredients

• 2 ounces raw pecans (60g)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (28g)
• 2 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar (28g)
• 2 pinches of salt

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven 425°F/220°C. + roast the pumpkin.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add peeled and diced pumpkin in one layer. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until fork-tender and slightly caramelized on the edges. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F/176°C.
2. Prepare the tart pan.  Lightly butter a rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom and line it with parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides.
3. Make the Biscoff crust. Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they resemble coarse sand. Add the melted butter and combine using a fork or your hands. Add the cookie mixture to the prepared tart pan (or pie plate) and distribute evenly. Press the mixture down using a glass jar or the back of your hands. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until set. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack while you prepare the pumpkin filling and pecan crunch.
4. Prepare the pecan crunch. Melt the butter and pour it over pecans, add sugar and salt and toss to coat the nuts and set aside until ready to decorate the tart.
5. Prepare the pumpkin filling. In the bowl of a food processor (or using a handheld mixer and medium mixing bowl), add roasted pumpkin mascarpone, heavy cream, milk, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and process until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg, blend until combined, and add the flour. Pulse a few more times just until the flour is mixed in. 
6. Decorate + Bake the tart. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust, decorate it with Pecan Crunch and bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until the top is set and cooked through. The edges will slightly puff up when the tart is ready. Remove it from the oven to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours and even better overnight and Enjoy!

Notes

• 1lb 5 oz (650g) raw kabocha squash weighed 13 oz (365g) after being oven-roasted. 
• If you want to maximize the use of your oven, I’d suggest prepping the Biscoff cookie crust first and baking it while the oven is preheating to roast the kabocha squash.
• Substitute Libby’s Canned Pumpkin for the Kabocha squash, for an even quicker and delicious holiday pumpkin pie dessert. Libby’s 15oz can (425g) contains 2 ounces more pumpkin than is used in this recipe. I think the amount is so little that it probably wouldn’t negatively affect the end result although, I’ve not tried it. Up to you! If you try it out, let us know how it turns out.
• Substitute full-fat cream cheese for mascarpone and it’ll have a little more “zip” and be just as yummy.
• Feel free to chop all of the pecans, or leave them all whole. This part is up to you. If you want to cover the entire top of the tart, you’ll need double the amount of pecans called for.
• Dice and Roast all of the Kabocha squash and use it for grain salads, or as a healthy delicious side for your next lunch or dinner.
• If you’re using salted butter instead of unsalted butter for the Pecan Crunch, simply omit the salt called for in the recipe since the butter will already have added salt.
• I used 1 full teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, but if you’d like to use less go ahead. Taste the filling as you add and decide how much you want to use.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Pies + Cobblers + Crostate
• Method: Oven Bake
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice

Keywords: Kabocha squash recipe, kabocha squash, mascarpone, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin pie, pumpkin tart, roasted Kabocha, Kabocha pumpkin, winter squash, japanese pumpkin, Thanksgiving pie recipes, how to roast kabocha, homemade pumpkin purée, pumpkin purée, Fall dessert, pumpkin pie purée, pumpkin pie filling, fresh pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice purée

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