Tikvenik (pumpkin pie)

Method

1. Squeeze the grated pumpkin hard in a clean cloth. It holds a startling amount of water, and anything left behind will steam the pastry from the inside.
2. Put the pumpkin in a wide pan with the oil and cook over a medium heat for ten to twelve minutes, stirring, until it darkens and no liquid pools when you draw a spoon through it.
3. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and lemon zest. Let the filling cool completely; warm filling tears filo.
4. Heat the oven to 190°C and grease a round tin about 30 cm across. Mix the melted butter with a little more oil in a bowl. (For a fasting tikvenik at Badnik, leave out the butter and use oil alone.)
5. Lay out two sheets of filo, overlapping slightly, and brush them with butter. Dust with a little semolina, spread a line of filling along one long edge and roll it into a loose rope. Rolling tightly gives a dense pie.
6. Coil the first rope into the middle of the tin and carry on with the rest, joining each new rope to the end of the last, until the tin is filled in a spiral.
7. Brush the top generously with the remaining butter and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep gold and crisp.
8. Let it settle in the tin for twenty minutes, then dust heavily with icing sugar and cut into wedges. It is just as good cold the next day.