Pumpkin Pasties

Makes about 3 dozen miniature pasties.

Ingredients:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 1 lb. can pumpkin
(or 2 cups fresh, roasted in the oven then pressed through a strainer)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 2/3 cups evap. milk (1 can)
1/2 tsp. allspice
9 oz pie crust pastry (enough for two single standard pie crusts)

Directions:
Bake the pie filling only (no crust) in a large greased casserole dish in hot oven (425F) for 15 minutes. Keep oven door closed and reduce temp to moderate (350 degrees F/180 degress Celsuis) and continue baking for 45 minutes or until table knife inserted in center of dish comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Make or purchase pie crust pastry. Roll thin and cut into circles approx 4" in diameter. Put a spoonful of the cool pumpkin mixture towards one side of the center of the circle. Fold over the crust into a half-circle and firmly crimp the edges closed. Slice three small slits in the top for venting, place on a greased cookie sheet, and bake only until crust is a light golden-brown. The pumpkin filling will begin to make the crust soggy, so best baked the day of serving. Can be made ahead by freezing the assembled pasties unbaked on cookie sheets, then thawed and baked the day of serving. Great served at room-temperature, then you don't have to worry about your guests possibly burning their mouths from the steaming hot pumpkin inside!

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