A healthy pie crust using nuts

Nuts add healthy fats and rich flavour to a crust in which most of the butter has been replaced by canola oil. This tasty pie takes only 20 minutes to prepare and just over an hour to cook. Here's what you need and how to make it:

Ingredients

• 125 ml (1⁄2 c) walnuts, lightly toasted
• 125 ml (1⁄2 c) hazelnuts, lightly toasted
• 250 ml (1 c) graham cracker crumbs
• 55 g (1⁄4 c) packed brown sugar
• 6 ml (1 1⁄4 tsp) cinnamon
• 6 ml (1 1⁄4 tsp) ground ginger
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) canola oil or light olive oil
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) butter, melted
• 500 g (1 lb) carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 200 g (1 c) granulated sugar
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) all-purpose flour
• 2 ml (1⁄2 tsp) salt
• 1 ml (1⁄4 tsp) ground nutmeg
• Pinch of cloves
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 175 ml (3⁄4 c) milk

1. For the crust, combine walnuts and hazelnuts in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add cracker crumbs, brown sugar, one gram (1⁄4 teaspoon) cinnamon and one gram (1⁄4 teaspoon) ground ginger. Pulse two or three times to combine. Add the oil and melted butter. Pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened.
2. Press crumb mixture over bottom and side of a 23 centimetre (nine inch) deep-dish pie plate.
3. Place carrots in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water to cover; cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well.
4. Purée in a food processor. Leave to cool slightly.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Stir sugar, flour, remaining ginger and cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl. Add to carrot purée in food processor; process to combine. Add the eggs and milk; process until smooth and thoroughly blended. Pour mixture into crust.
6. Bake until a skewer inserted in the centre of the pie comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or cool to room temperature. Or, refrigerate for several hours.

The carrots and nuts together make this so healthy. A serving has 8 grams of protein, 22 grams of fat  (including 4 g saturated fat) and 3 grams of fibre.