Chai Pecan Pie

Chai Pecan Pie
This recipe is from Rev. Chef Beth Love, the Founder of Eat for the Earth

Yield: 1 nine-inch pie

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups pecans, soaked overnight and drained, divided
• ¾ cups almonds, soaked overnight and drained
• 1½ teaspoons chia seeds, ground
• small pinch of salt
• 1½ cups strong herbal chai, divided (see recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon agar flakes
• ¾ cup dates, pits and stems removed, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon alcohol-free vanilla
• juice of 1 lemon, about 2–3 tablespoons

Directions:

• Pick out ¾ cup of nicely formed half pecans for the top of the pie and set these aside.
• Make the crust:
• Process chia seeds in a seed grinder.
• Mix ground chia seeds with 1 tablespoon water.
• Process soaked almond and pecans (non-reserved) and a small pinch of salt in a food processor using pulse mode. The mixture should resemble crumbs, not nut butter.
• Add soaked chia and process a little more until the mixture comes away from the sides of the food processor and begins forming a dough-like mass.
• Taste and adjust salt if necessary.
• Dump the mixture into a 9” pie plate and use your hands to distribute it fairly evenly across the pie plate with a slight build-up near the edges. Press mixture into the pan, ensuring the bottom and sides are evenly covered. Crimp the top edge of the crust.
• Place reserved pecan halves on a dehydrator tray and place in dehydrator at 115ºF.
• Place crust in the dehydrator as well.
• Dehydrate nuts until crispy, about 8–10 hours.
• Dehydrate crust until it is fairly firm and cuttable, about 8–14 hours. The longer time will make a crispier crust.
• When the crust is finished, make the filling:
• In a small saucepan, soak agar in 1¼ cups cold chai for 5-10 minutes.
• Combine dates, lemon juice, remaining ¼ cup of chai, and vanilla in a food processor.
• Process until smooth.
• Turn on the burner under your agar/water mixture. Cover the pot to help it come to a boil more quickly and to reduce evaporation loss. Keep an eye on it to avoid boiling over. When the mixture comes to a boil, turn it down and keep it simmering, covered, for 5 minutes.
• When the agar mixture has simmered for 5 minutes, remove it from the heat and take off the lid so it can begin to cool down.
• While the agar mixture cools, arrange your reserved dehydrated nuts on a plate that is similarly sized to the inside of your pie crust.
• Once the agar mixture is lukewarm, add to date mixture and process until well combined. Pour into crust and transfer your pecan design to the top.
• Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or preferably overnight.

Notes:

•  Soaking the nuts and dehydrating makes a crust that contrasts nicely with the sweet filling, but you can make it another way if you don’t have a dehydrator. If you are not using a dehydrator, follow these instructions:
• Substitute raw nuts for the soaked nuts.
• Add 2–4 pitted dates to the mixture when processing crust to help hold it together.
• You can substitute store-bought herbal chai for the homemade.

Herbal Chai
Ingredients:

• ½ tablespoon dried ginger
• ½ teaspoon dried orange peel
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon whole cardamom pods
• ½ tablespoon allspice seeds
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• a quarter of a nutmeg, chopped in several pieces
• 1 teaspoon roasted chicory root granules
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon chips

Directions:

• Place 2 quarts of water in a pot.
• Measure and add cinnamon chips, roasted chicory, ginger, and orange peel to water in a pot.
• Measure and combine black pepper, cardamom, allspice, and cloves in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Coarsely crush, then add to the pot.
• Chop a quarter of nutmeg into several pieces and add to the pot.
• Bring to a boil and then keep it at a strong simmer or low boil for 2–4 hours.
• Strain spices.
• Remove what you need for the pie, and set it aside to cool.
• Use the rest to drink, with natural sweetener and plant-based milk if you like.