Pumpkin Pie

I can’t imagine making a pumpkin pie with pumpkin from a can. I always bake a pumpkin and scoop out the inside for a real pumpkin pie. The seeds are delicious roasted, too (see my recipe for that). Any pumpkin meat that you don’t use in the pie can be frozen in a freezer bag and saved for another time. You will need a crust for this pie recipe below, of course. You can either purchase a ready-made pie shell or you can make your crust from scratch. Refer to my discussion about pie crusts (both with and without gluten) if you decide to make your own. This recipe assumes that you have the pie crust in which to place the pumpkin pie filling. (Or you can make it with no crust for a delicious pudding.)

Ingredients

2 ½ c. pumpkin purée (see below for pumpkin preparation)
¾ cup honey
1 cup scalded milk (lactose-free milk works for the lactose intolerant)
4 eggs (beaten)
2 tbsp. molasses
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
½ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. mace
¼ tsp. salt
(optional: ½ tsp. grated orange peel)
1 pie shell (either make from scratch or purchase ready-made)

Directions
Don’t use jack-o’-lantern pumpkins for pie. They tend to be stringy and tough. Small pie pumpkins are best (New England pie pumpkins are my favorite). Cinderella pumpkins can be sweet and tasty, but note that they have a lot of moisture in them so you might want to use less milk in this recipe if baking a Cinderella pumpkin.

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the innards (use my roasted pumpkin seed recipe to roast those seeds for a delicious snack). Put the pumpkin halves upside down on a cookie sheet with a little water in it (up to about ½ of an inch of water). Bake the pumpkin at 350˚ for about an hour or until it is clearly soft when pierced with a fork. Do not overcook as the pumpkin will turn brown on the bottom and discolor your pie. Once the pumpkin has cooled enough to handle, scoop out the meat, discard the skin, and whirl the pumpkin in a food processor until it is smooth. If it doesn’t whirl up so easily, add a little water, but not much.

Scald the milk. Do not boil. Just allow it to heat until hot then take it off the burner. Preheat the oven to 450˚.

Combine the pumpkin meat, honey, and molasses. Add the spices. Beat the eggs and add those. Whirl the filling in the food processor briefly or mix with an electric mixer to get the spices to blend in. Mix in the milk last. Pour the pie filling mixture into the pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes at 450˚ and then turn the oven down to 350˚. Bake at 350˚ for 50 minutes or until the pie is set. It might need to sit for 15 or 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven to “stick together.” I personally prefer pumpkin pie at room temperature. Because of the eggs and milk, this one needs to be refrigerated to keep.

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are a terrific accompaniment!

Eat well, be well, live deliciously! (And a Happy Thanksgiving to all.)