Pumpkin pie recipe

Pumpkin pie lovers are spoiled beyond reason between the end of November and the end of the year. There are infinite variations of the delicious desert, all nutmeg, clove and cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar.

I'd like to share my grandmother's recipe, which comes in strudel form. It is one of those food items that gets passed on from generation to generation and adds to the meaningfulness of shared holiday meals.

You will need a packet of phyllo dough, a couple of sticks of butter for melting, one pie pumpkin, 1 can of condensed milk, 1 cup of sugar, 2 whole eggs (plus one for the glaze), 1 tablespoon of flour and of course lots of spices.

After you bake the pumpkin and mix it with the rest of the ingredients like you normally would for pumpkin pie, open the phyllo dough packet and start overlapping five or six sheets as fast as you can, brushing them with melted butter to prevent them from drying and sprinkling a sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon mix between them. Keep the remaining sheets wrapped, because they dry out fast and become brittle once exposed to air.

Once you have sufficient layers spread the pumpkin mixture over two thirds of the phyllo and roll. Repeat the process with sufficient rolls to fill the baking pan. Mix one egg with a cup of milk and as much vanilla sugar as you like and spoon it generously over the strudels.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown, drizzling the milk and egg mixture over it every now and then to keep it from drying.

This is the best pumpkin dessert I ever had. My grandmother made it every year on the day of Saint Ecaterina, whose name she shared and whose feast we celebrated on November 25th. For all the Katherines out there, happy name's day.