Recipe of the Week

Pumpkin Pie 101
Part 2

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Makes: one 9″ pie

Ingredients

Directions

Cooking Fresh Pumpkin

When selecting a pumpkin for your pie, avoid the humongous, jack-o’-lantern types; they can be stringy and not suited for pies. Choose a small or medium-sized pumpkin. A medium-size pumpkin (about 4 lbs) will yield around 1½ cups of puréed pumpkin (perfect for the filling recipe here). Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Place ½″ water in a 13″ x 9″ baking dish and add the pumpkin, cut-side down. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Check for doneness by piercing with a fork; it should feel soft. Bake up to an additional 30 minutes, until done. Allow to cool. Scoop out the flesh from the skin, place the flesh in a food processor, and purée. If your purée seems loose and wet, pour it into a fine sieve or a colander lined with cheesecloth placed over a bowl to drain some of the liquid off.

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugars, flour, salt, and spices*. Mix in the eggs. With an old-fashioned egg beater or electric hand mixer on low speed, beat in the pumpkin and evaporated milk until smooth.
3. Place your prepared pie crust (p. 64) on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour in the filling and carefully transfer baking sheet to the oven.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 20 minutes. Place a pie ring on the pie to protect the crust from overbrowning, and bake an additional 20–25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Cool thoroughly on a rack. Serve with Easy Whipped Cream (coming next week).

*If you want, you can replace the spices in your pie with 2¾ t of pre-blended “pumpkin pie spice.”