"If I were a guy, I'd only eat pie.Oh my, oh sigh, please feed me pie."
Okay, so it's awful poetry, but the pie? It's completely dreamy.
I made this pie twice, once with fresh pumpkin (and burned the crust so no photo) and then again, as pictured here (where the crust is raw, yes, there was considerable trial and error learning how to make a Flaky Tender Pie Crust) with canned pumpkin. Which is better? Well, you'll have to decide because it depends.
FRESH PUMPKIN The fresh pumpkin made a pie sweetly pale in color and subtly delicate in flavor. It's the 'foodie' choice for people who are curious about food and welcome adaptation -- and it's my personal pick, forever and ever. (Plus, I getting requests from the taste tasters, "So when are you going to make another pumpkin pie?") CANNED PUMPKIN But pie made with canned pumpkin looked and tasted exactly like we've been trained to know as pumpkin pie. It's the 'safe' choice for people who are saddled with tradition and only eat what they know.HONEY PUMPKIN PIE
Hands-on time: 20 minutes (not including pastry)
Time to table: 4 hours
Serves 8
Time to table: 4 hours
Serves 8
Unbaked pie shell
2 cups fresh roasted (or otherwise cooked) pumpkin, pureed til very smooth in a food processor ~ or ~ 2 cups (1 15 ounce can) pumpkin puree
4 eggs (I used only 3 for the canned version, worked fine)
1/2 cup honey (the inspiring recipe called for 1 cup but I think 1/2 is perfect)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon table salt
Preheat oven to 375F.
[If you've pureed the roasted pumpkin in the food processor, you can continue to use it for mixing. Just throw all the remaining ingredients in and whizz a few times.]
Otherwise -- in a large bowl, beat the eggs until just mixed with an electric mixer. Add all the remaining ingredients and beat til smooth.
Pour carefully into the unbaked pastry and then carefully lift into the oven. (The filling is sloshy so can run up the sides which doesn't hurt much but doesn't look as pretty after baking.) Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is just set. It will firm up while cooling.
TO PREP AHEAD
SEVERAL DAYS AHEAD Roast the pumpkin (here's how to roast a whole pumpkin) if you choose fresh pumpkin
MORNING OF Make the pastry and bake the pie; I especially like the custard chilled so once the pie has cooled, refrigerate it if you can. I know people make their pies the day before but I think the pastry suffers and if it's good pastry, you don't want to mar it.
LEFTOVER REPORT The custard is dreamy, even a few days later.
KITCHEN NOTES
Be sure to buy a pie pumpkin (good ones can be sugar pie pumpkins, kabocha, hubbards and one I keep hearing about but haven't found yet, a cheese pumpkin), not one for jack o'lanterns or decoration. After roasting the pumpkin, drain the roasted flesh in a strainer. If it's full of water that drains out, taste it. Is it any good? If it's bland and watery, I'd use canned pumpkin instead. If you can't find a pie pumpkin, use a roasted butternut squash. If you go for the canned version, be sure to buy pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling which has already been spiced and etc. This recipe is for a deep-dish pie pan, one that holds a full six cups of filling. If yours is shallower, adjust accordingly -- or better yet, put extra custard into custard cups and put into a hot water bath in the oven while the pie bakes. (My recipe for pumpkin pudding shows how to cook with a hot water bath.)
MORE IDEAS for THANKSGIVING RECIPES using PUMPKIN
~ pumpkin muffins ~
~ pumpkin bars ~
~ pumpkin truffles ~
~ more pumpkin recipes ~
~ pumpkin muffins ~
~ pumpkin bars ~
~ pumpkin truffles ~
~ more pumpkin recipes ~
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Move aside, turkeys. (No, not you, dear readers! Thanksgiving turkeys!) Here at A Veggie Venture, vegetables are the real stars of the Thanksgiving table. So it's new Thanksgiving recipes all November long for a fabulous collection of Thanksgiving vegetable recipe ideas. Whether it's last year's famous World's Best Green Bean Casserole or a brand-new recipe which catches your fancy this year, move over turkeys, it's vegetables' time. © Copyright 2007
Your Comments:
Thanks for teaching me how to roast a whole pumpkin. If I try your recipe maybe I can learn to adapt one tradition I feel saddled with into something I actually look forward to eating!
Cynthia ~ Creamy, for sure!
Meeta ~ A tart too? Oh you guys are so good!
Lisa ~ (Mistakes? What mistakes?) Between your slightly burned crust and my totally raw crust (where I began to learn the in my oven, pies should go on the bottom rack for the first 20 minutes), we have one good pie. Some bloggers do, others don't, share their 'mistakes'. My own take is to share a mistake if there's something we all can learn from, if it's my own forgetfulness, etc, then I don't, because I know my readers come here wanting good recipes, not so-so recipes. It's all a matter of your goals ...
Nice to see you in a comment, Mz Lis!
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