Recipe: Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite foods. My birthday is around Thanksgiving, so it has often been my requested birthday “cake.” So I wanted to share with you a recipe my mom and I created last Thanksgiving.

We made it out of a 30 lb. pumpkin from our garden. Actually, that pumpkin made 2 pies and enough pumpkin soup for 6 people to have for two different meals!! It was delicious. Truly. The pumpkin pie was the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had – and I’ve had a lot of pumpkin pies in my life!

Enjoy…

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Pie Shell

Ingredients.

2.5 c all-purpose flour
1 c unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” cubes
1 t salt
1 t sugar
3-6 T cold water

1. Place butter in the freezer for 15 minutes so that it becomes thoroughly chilled.

2. Combine flour, salt, and sugar into a bowl and mix. Add butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with butter the size of peas. Add water 1 T at a time, mixing and adding additional water until it just begins to clump together. (You should be able to pinch the dough and it will hold together.)

3. Remove dough and place on a clean, floured surface. Divide the dough in two. Gently knead the dough just enough to form a round disk, being careful not to over knead (you should still be able to see small bits of butter in the dough). Lightly sprinkle flour over the dough, wrap in plastic wrap or some other airtight covering, and refrigerate for at least one hour (up to 2 days).

4. Remove dough one at a time from refrigerator, letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. It should be about 1/8” thick.

5. Carefully place the dough into a 9” pie pan, molding it along the edges so that it comes within 1/2” of the pie pan.

6. Add filling.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 for second pie.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Pie Filling

Ingredients.

4 c fresh pumpkin
3 c evaporated milk
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg (or allspice)
1/4 t cloves
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Steps.

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Wash the pumpkin, cut into medium-sized pieces, and remove all seeds and stringy pulp.

3. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400F for 30 mins, or until pumpkin is tender.

4. Scrape the meaty pulp from the rind, and puree it in a blender (a fork, food processor, or mixer would also work).

5. Let stand 1-1/2 hours. Drain excess liquid into a colander.

6. Preheat oven to 425F.

7. Mix 4 c fresh pumpkin puree with the rest of the ingredients. If you’re not using pie pumpkins, you may want to add an extra 1/4 c sugar (we did and it was perfect). Pour into two pie shells (recipe above).

8. Bake 15 minutes at 425F, then reduce heat to 350F. Bake another 45 minutes or until done (when inserted knife comes out clean).

Makes 2 glorious pies!