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Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m revealing the full pumpkin pie recipe from my upcoming book, The Zero-Waste Chef: Plant-Forward Recipes and Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen and Planet. You can preorder the book here.

You need to know a couple of things about this recipe before getting started: 1) Once you bake a pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin and fresh ginger, you simply cannot go back to their shelf-stable counterparts and 2) Although I have revealed the recipe for you here, do not feel obligated to divulge the secret ingredients to your family when they ask—and they will ask.

Every recipe in my book includes helpful, use-it-up tips, including this pumpkin pie recipe. After lining your pie plate with the pastry, transform any scraps into decorative shapes. You’ll cut the food waste while adding a flourish to your dessert. Get more out of the whole pumpkin as well by saving the seeds and roasting them for a crunchy, savory, healthy snack.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Freshest Pumpkin Pie

Serves 8

• 1 sugar pie pumpkin
• 1 recipe No-Fear Pastry, chilled (see below)
• ½ cup (50 g) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream or half-and-half

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stab the top of the pumpkin a few times. Place it in a dish and bake, checking for doneness after 40 minutes. You should be able to easily slide a knife into the pumpkin. If you can’t, continue to bake, checking often. (Alternatively, cook a small pumpkin in a pressure cooker following the manufacturer’s instructions.)

When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, cut off the top, cut out the core, then slice in half and remove the seeds. Peel the skin from the pumpkin flesh.

Cut the pumpkin flesh into 2-inch pieces, then run it through a food mill or purée in a food processor. You should have about 2 cups. (If desired, refrigerate for several days or freeze for several months.)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Roll the pastry into a circle about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, then trim the pastry to extend only ½ inch beyond the plate edge. Fold the pastry edge under itself, making it flush with the top of the pie plate. Pinch this rim with your fingers to crimp it. Place in the refrigerator to briefly chill while you make the pie filling.

With any excess pastry pieces, cut out shapes such as leaves, hearts, stars, or whatever else you like. Chill these as well on a small baking sheet or plate.

Combine the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar mixture, then add the pumpkin purée and the cream. Combine well.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake until the filling is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Test for doneness with a knife inserted in the center; it should come out very clean.

Similarly, bake the pastry shapes for 10 to 12 minutes.

Allow the pie to cool before adding the decorative shapes and serving. Cover leftovers with an inverted bowl or plate. Store in the refrigerator for about 5 days.

No-Fear Pastry

Makes one 9- to 10-inch pie or galette crust

• 1¼ cups (163 g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup or 1 stick (114 g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 3 to 4 tablespoons (45 to 60 ml) ice water

If using a food processor, pulse the flour and salt a few times until combined. Add the butter in bits and pulse until the mixture resembles large peas. If making the pastry by hand, whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl and then cut in the butter with either a pastry blender or two knives.

Slowly add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. In the food processor, pulse a few times; by hand, mix with a fork. Continue adding water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough easily sticks together when you pinch a large piece. If it crumbles, add more ice water but not so much that the dough becomes sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a ball. Flatten into a disk. Place the disk on a plate and invert another plate over it. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator or 20 minutes in the freezer.

Excerpted from The Zero-Waste Chef: Plant-Forward Recipes and Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen and Planet by Anne-Marie Bonneau with permission of Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © Anne-Marie Bonneau, 2021.