Eoin Cluskey's pumpkin pie

Method

1. First make the pastry. Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and then rub in with your fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible; if the fat is allowed to melt, the finished pastry may be tough. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, stop.

2. Using a fork to stir, add just enough water to bring the pastry together, then discard the fork and collect it into a ball with your hands, this way you can judge more accurately if you need a few more drops of liquid. Flatten into a round and wrap in parchment paper and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

3. Once rested, roll out, line the tart tin and retain the excess pastry. Line the tin with parchment paper and fill with baking beans and chill for 5-10 minutes in a refrigerator.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

5. Bake the tart base blind for about 25 minutes in the preheated oven or until pale and golden, remove the beans and paper.

6. Brush the prebaked tart shell with a little beaten egg and pop back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until almost cooked. Cool.

7. Peel the pumpkin and set aside the skin (keep the seeds for roasting for a healthy snack). Finely chop the flesh. Heat the golden syrup in a pan and add the pumpkin flesh, lemon zest and juice. Bring this mixture to the boil and remove it from the heat. Blitz the breadcrumbs and pumpkin skin in a food processor and add a pinch of ground ginger. Mix the bread crumb/pumpkin skin mixture into the pumpkin flesh/syrup mixture.

8. Fill the tart case with this pumpkin mixture and decorate as your wish with the left-over pastry — lattice, leaves etc.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool, remove from the tin. Serve either warm or cold with softly whipped cream.