Two Carrot Pies One Savory & One Sweet

Both are delicious, but completely different from each other. Together they make a unique carrot pie supper

   I’d bought a bag of local Nash’s Farm carrots. They were big, like they’d had a good summer underground. I wondered why I’ve never heard of anyone making carrot pies? We make carrot cake. My son wanted a sweet pie, but we needed to put lunch on the table. 
I always like to play while cooking, so I made a sweet and savory version and they were both hits.
   Using my Vitamix to get the carrots absolutely smooth was key.
I didn’t even bother to peel them and they were still velvety.
I appreciated not having to run them through a food mill to get the right consistency, and it was a breakthrough using the flavorful carrot boiling water for the custard liquid instead of milk.
It worked wonderfully.
   The seasoning for the savory was inspired by the preserved lemons put up last winter. The sweet, by my love for  carrots with anise and orange . The sweet version was the guy's favorite but they ate them both in one sitting. The crust: my new and improved gluten free--loving it.    ​

Perserved  Lemon Carrot Pie

Ingredients
1 ½ cups pureed carrots
3 large eggs
½ cup carrot water leftover from boiling carrots
¼ cup preserved lemon
2 teaspoons toasted cumin
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon black mustard seed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil

​Instructions
Toast cumin, grind and sift. Add to preserved lemon and puree until smooth with olive oil. Heat butter and cook mustard seeds on a medium until they pop. Add all ingredients except mustard seeds to a blender and blend until absolutely smooth. Add mustard seeds and butter.
Blend briefly. Put into a partially blind baked 9-inch crust, still hot. Bake at 350F/176C for 40 minutes or until set.

Sweet Carrot Pie with Anise and Orange

Ingredients
1 ½ cups pureed carrots
3 large eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
⅛ teaspoon stevia powder
½ cup carrot water leftover from boiling carrots
1 tablespoon anise seed
2 teaspoons coriander seed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons good quality orange extract or
1 tablespoon orange zest

Instructions
Grind anise and coriander together and sift
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until absolutely smooth
Put into a partially blind baked 9-inch crust, still hot.
​Bake at 350F/176C for 40 minutes or until set

Gluten  Free  Crust/ pastry flour link included