It’s that time of year when the media likes to run scare stories about Halloween candy…

Meanwhile the rest of us are getting excited about what this year’s inappropriate kids’ costumes will be (my money is on It clowns and Jokers), and using it as an excuse to stuff our faces with candy and other treats.

Unfortunately I still haven’t lost my holiday weight, so no candy for me :( Thankfully I’ve found this Lo-Dough recipe for a low-cal Pumpkin pie!

This, unsurprisingly, calls for pumpkin puree, which isn’t common in the UK. Ocado do list is, but it didn’t turn up in last week’s shop, and this week it’s out-of-stock on the website :( Amazon has it, but it’s like £4 a can! (it’s 89p from Ocado).

So it looks like I’m going to have to make my own. Thankfully that turns out to be dead easy: cut in half, scoop out seeds, roast for an hour, scoop out and mash. Plus you can toast up the seeds for a healthy snack!

So as soon as Ocado (other online supermarkets are available) delivers, I set to work on the pumpkin. Getting all the seeds out with the stringy flesh isn’t that hard.

Then onto a tray and into the oven.

Then onto the bit that is horribly hard… separating the seeds from the stringy flesh.

With that done, and the seeds dried, I add salt, pepper, cumin, paprika & garlic, plus oil, and mix up, and spread on a tray, and into the oven with the pumkpins.

15mins later and they’re done.

Ohhh they’re a bit too good. Better distract myself with the pumpkin puree before I eat them all before anyone else gets a look in!

They seems mashable!

After cooling, I can add to the rest of the mix.

Into the tart dish, with the Lo-Dough on the bottom. And into the oven at 160C fan (supposed to be 140C but I don’t trust low temperatures) for 40mins, and even at the higher temperature I’m not convinced it will be set…

Yeah not nearly done after 40mins. Giving it another 10mins.

Oops, not set, pushed my finger into the still-liquid.

And another 10mins… and yes it seems set.

Now it has to cool on a rack, then go into the fridge for a couple of hours. So much waiting. Maybe I’ll have some more pumpkin seeds while I wait…

And it is good! Maybe not as spiced as I’d have liked, but lovely and sweet without tasting ‘fake’ sweet; even Soph didn’t complain about the fake sweetener!

Oh and amazingly we still have some of the spicy seeds left!