I don’t know why pumpkin pie is relegated to only shine on Thanksgiving. I for one could eat it every day of the year. ESPECIALLY pumpkin pie that’s made with real pumpkin.
Have you ever had a moment of revelation? They’re rare, but I can assure you they do exist. Those little moments in life where you find something out and realize up until that very point in time you were living in the dark. Like a fish living life at the bottom of the sea. Like a bug burrowed deep in the bark of a tree. Like a bozo.
About 9 years ago I discovered something that knocked me right on my ass. You can cook pumpkin pie made with real pumpkin. Yes. Sugar pumpkins to be precise.
I swear to God I had no idea there was any option other than opening up a can of pumpkin. And it’s not like I was some sort of canned food eating lunatic who thought peas or beans or those tiny little cobs of corn only came in cans. I knew all of these things could be found fresh. (now that I think of it, cans might be the only place you can find those tiny little cobs of corn.)
It just never occurred to me for some reason that you could make pumpkin pie by cooking a pumpkin. Until one day I saw a sign. It said:
Pie Pumpkins!
Holy crap! I bought a pumpkin. I made a pie. I did it again yesterday to show you it’s true! You can make a pie out of a pumpkin.
How Do You Make Pumpkin Puree?
First things first … you need a pie pumpkin. These are the smaller pumpkins you see around. About the size of a small head. Like, a toddler’s head.
Your first job is to crack off the stem.
Then grab the nearest chef’s knife and whack your pumpkin in half.
Inside it’ll look just like a squash does when you split it in half.
Scoop out all of the guts and fibres … then place face down on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes – 1 hr.
The pumpkins are done when they’re easily pierced with a fork.
When they’ve cooled a bit, flip the pumpkins over and grab a spoon. Scrape the flesh out of the pumpkins and put it into a bowl.
One small pumpkin will yield around 3 cups. Plenty for one pumpkin pie. Puree your pumpkin either in a traditional blender or with a hand blender.
Blend it until it has a very smooth consistency.
Because pumpkin tends to be a bit watery, it’s best to strain it in some cheesecloth for a few hours.
I just set mine in the fridge overnight. About a cup of liquid drained out of the pumpkin pulp.
Now you have cooked, strained pumpkin like they sell in cans. Only often the pumpkin sold in cans is actually squash. Seriously. Look at the ingredients on a can of pumpkin. Which you might think is bad but actually all it means is you can also have pumpkin pie made with real pumpkin … OR squash. So when pie pumpkins aren’t in season and you hanker for pumpkin pie, just grab a squash for the job.
Now you just continue on as you normally would if you were making pumpkin pie, substituting your homemade pumpkin for the canned stuff.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
Top with Maple Syrup Whipped Cream and enjoy!
PUMPKIN PIE MADE WITH ... GASP ... PUMPKINS!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pumpkin Puree
- 1 can evaporated milk 12 ounces
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsps. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 pie crust
Pumpkin Puree
- 1 pie pumpkin
Instructions
Pumpkin Puree
- Cut pie pumpkin in half and scoop out the guts.
- Place face down on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 until tender (around 45 minutes to 1 hour) It should be fork tender.
- Once cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.
- Puree your pumpkin in either a traditional blender or with a stick blender until very smooth.
- Because pumpkin can be quite watery, you should strain your pumpkin puree in cheesecloth overnight if possible. A few hours at the very least. It's possible a full cup of water will strain out.
- You now have pumpkin puree!
Pumpkin Pie Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Add sugar, salt, spices and lemon zest to bowl and mix.
- Beat the eggs very well and add them to the bowl of mixed ingredients.
- Mix in pumpkin puree.
- Add evaporated milk and combine well.
- Roll out pie crust and put in pie plate.
- Blind bake your pie crust. This helps prevent a soggy crust. To do this, line your pie crust with tin foil, fill with pie weights, rice or dried beans, bake for 10 minutes, remove tin foil and weights, then bake another 5 minutes.
- Remove blind baked crust from the oven and fill with pumpkin mixture.
- Bake at 425 F for 15 Minutes, then turn oven down to 350 F and bake an additional 40-50 minutes. If the crust starts to darken, cover it with tin foil for the remainder of the bake.
- Pie is done when a knife comes out *almost* clean. Just a speck or two of filling on it. If it comes out completely clean the pie will be overdone. But it'll still be delicious, so who cares.
- Let cool on wire rack until the pie is set.
Notes
TOOLS THAT MAKE THE JOB EASIER
Hand blender – Mine is ancient and cost a lot originally but you can buy them for $30 now.
Cheesecloth – I swear I can never find cheesecloth in the grocery store. It’s like it’s a game to them to see how well they can hide it.
Whipped Cream Dispenser – Since originally writing this post I’ve delved into the world of whipped cream dispensers. This is the brand I own and love. LOVE this thing. And trust me, sitting down at the Thanksgiving table for pie, the kids’ll love it too.
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Looks delish! I think I will try this!
You can make pumpkin ale with the strained pumpkin juice. 😉
How do you make pumpkin ale with the pumpkin juice?
Let’s talk cranberry sauce. Easy as pie. I add some pomegranate seeds. Fresh cranberry sauce is vastly underrated. Seriously, let’s talk. Maybe I won’t bring up the “add 1 homemade pie crust” shortcut you’ve furtively thrown in above, cheater!
HAHAHAH. Yes … about the pie crust thing. I fully admit to shirking. I thought with the 50 pictures and epic length of the post I should probably skip the homemade crust instruction. I have made homemade cranberry sauce before but … I have the turkey, the stuffing, the pies, the mashed potatoes, the pulling out the dining room table leaves from under my bed, the setting the table (WITH my Dollarama table runners), the smoked tomato and roasted red pepper soup … and on and on. (plus I don’t actually eat cranberry sauce so what the hell do I care?!) love Karen.
OH! And a television crew coming to shoot here on Friday. Plus one of my cats seems to be getting a little “puddiny”. Might have to start taking her for evening constitutionals.
I will see if I can buy pie pumpkins tomorrow!! Thanks for the tip. I’ve heard you can make turnip pie….have you tried this?
Turnip Pie!! No. I have never heard of turnip pie! I assume it’s something you’d serve *with* dinner as opposed to after it with whipped cream. Or maybe not. Add enough maple syrup to the turnips I guess and anything’s possible.
Turnip pie is the same as pumpkin pie if you buy canned pumpkin. One of the main ingredients in some of the cheap canned pumpkins is turnip!
Hi Meg – Are you sure it isn’t squash you’re talking about? ~ karen
Thanks for this lovely post; I dig the Autumny-y pictures and am left with a serious hankering for punkin’ pie…still too lazy to bake at this point in my evening, but definitely could lay into one. No judgment on the cranberry sauce, but I did giggle at the fact that it takes about five minutes to make and with all the other stars you’re reaching for, THAT is where you chose to draw the line. It is awesome. The cranberry that broke the Karen’s back.
I know … I know! If someone else wants to make and bring the 5 minute cranberry sauce with pomegranate seeds they’re more than welcome to. But at this point … that is exactly right. The cranberry that broke the Karen’s back. LOL.
Thanks for all the work you put into this post…great pictures too. I have done this but have never found “pie pumpkins” so have used just regular ones…they work but will have to try your method of letting some juice drain out.Good tip:)
Oh I want to say that I keep a rubber mallet in my kitchen and when I have to cut a squash or a pumpkin, I put the veggie on a cloth so it won’t fly around and get a really long knife and whack it with the mallet(usually at the tip of the knife)….cuts through it no prob! Try it, it saves your hands and makes it so much easier.
Thanks for the tip Pati! It’d probably be GREAT for cutting turnip. Surprisingly though, the pumpkins are really easy to cut through. Much easier than a squash. Who would have thought?!
Here is a really cute idea for what to do with your gorgeous pumpkin stems! I have wanted to make these for a few years now, but unfortunately, gorgeous pumpkin stems are not very easy to come by in the dry dry desert of Las Vegas.
http://www.plushpumpkin.com/velvet-pumpkins.html
Elise! Those pumpkins are beauuuutiful. I love them. – karen!
Oh wauw… I didn’t realize this was a big secret.
I live in a country where canned pumpkin just isn’t available, so if I want pumpkin pie I had to make it from scratch every time.
Yours look very good though, so I might borrow your recipe.
You have decorative haystacks on your counter? did you buy them like that?
I did! In fact my boyfriend got them for me last year and I kept them in tact in a rubbermaid bin in the basement. I got 3 different sizes of them. Large, medium and small at my local garden centre. They’re pretty cute!
Wow, who knew it was that easy??!! And to think that on my way home today I was going to swing by the store to grab canned pumpkin… never again! lol
My aunt often tricks my family by making her “pumpkin pie” with sweet potatoes… can’t even tell the difference!
Now, I might be wrong, but aren’t sugar pumpkins and pie pumpkins the same thing? Maybe they’re just labelled differently? I’m totally making this and have been waiting for this post since the comment in the whipped cream post! Yeah, how sad am I?
Now, on a more serious note, you don’t make your own cranberry sauce? Woman, what is wrong with you? It’s maximum pay-off for almost no effort! People think you’re some sort of superstar if you can boil a bag of cranberries with some sugar and lemon zest. It’s ridiculous. And you can do it way ahead of time. And for the record, cranberry sauce rocks!
Rebecca! Yes, sugar pumpkins are a type of pie pumpkin. There are a few different types with sugar pumpkins being the most popular. And NO. I am not making my own cranberry sauce. And there is nothing wrong with me. I have made it. I realize it’s easy. I’m not doin’ it. Perhaps I will farm the task out to one of the 15 people coming. End of story. NOT MAKING CRANBERRY SAUCE! Phew. That feels better. ~ karen
My family won’t eat home made sauce even though I love it – and whole cranberries. They LOVE the jellied canned sauce and the can shape must be presented since I once made the mistake of cutting it up so it looked a little less like dog food. BUT, I love canned sauce on dressing sandwiches the next day. YUM. The old timers used to clean out the pumpkin, add cream and spices and eggs to the “bowl”, put the lid back on and bake it in the wood stove. The pumpkin got soft and sort of fell into the hot creamy soup inside and then they let it cool, scooped out the slush and served it in a bowl. It actually sounds good but would be more like pumpkin pudding, I guess. Now getting a recipe for spiced pumpkin latte would be wonderful since I love anything pumpkin. It would be even better if there was a variation that could be blended with ice cream and crushed ice to make a real slushy. Any ideas?
Whoops, forgot to add…
Turnip pie? Ugh, just shoot me now before you put that on my plate!
I’m going to try this on Monday (our Canadian Thanksgiving) I’m a newby to your blog and I love it.
A Dollarama has opened up in the next town and I’m going there tomorrow. I’m starting to fill with anticipation already.
Thanks again for your such a great blog.
Karen, please tell me you soak your punkin seeds in saltwater then roast them….I’ll cry if they got thrown on the compost pile.
oh yes, roasted SEEDS! the very best part of pumpkin carving.
I will definately be making a pumpkin pie this year. It looks way better than the sad little frozen crust/sloppy can pumpkin pie that you made (although I’m sure that’s great too :/)
The best is when you get cranberry from the can and it retains its shape of the can (this might be cranberry gelatin or something). My mom whipped it out of the can one year for Thanksgiving and cut into slices, complete with can indentations still on it 🙂
haha! you guys are fantastic.
i really wanted to try making pie from scratch last year, but there was some sort of ridiculous ‘pumpkin shortage’ so i couldn’t find pie pumpkins. even the canned stuff was a lot more expensive than usual. i almost used a regular large one, but was advised against that. hopefully this year i’ll be able to find some real pie pumpkins!
Thanks! With all the pumpkin bread recipes out there this time of year, I was wanting to make some with fresh pumpkin, but I wasn’t sure how to go about preparing it… now I know!
Btw, I have a lovely cranberry chutney recipe… 😉
I had a revelation too, many years ago, when I witnessed an acquaintance roast A WHOLE PUMPKIN in the oven and then puree the whole thing, skin, seeds and with the liquid ingredients for the filling and it was DELICIOUS! So if you are super lazy like me, don’t waste time peeling and scooping out the guts – eat the whole thing!
My grandmother used to use 1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 squash in her pies… and so do I.
Nicely done, Karen!
As I am relatively new to this wonderfully entertaining and informative blog, I was wondering if we have ever seen pictures of said big-headed/wonderful boyfriend. Just curious…
ok, Have to put in my two cents. I have been reading up on taste buds. yes, apparently there are “tasters” and “nontasters”. Us nontasters love everything, however we don’t have a very delicate palate. We see it, we consume it. We like strong flavors. I swear I have had both canned and fresh pumpkin pie. I can’t tell a lick of difference. Sad I know. But I can eat cilantro fresh by the handful too. Raw garlic is about the only thing that is a bit too strong. And I don’t like the texture of liver, other than that, I love all food.
By the way, I can’t tell the difference in honey roasted peanut butter and regular either. I like homemade cranberry sauce but that is because I put raspberry jello in mine and make it zippy. Ok that more like five pennies instead of two cents but it was good to share.
Thanks so much for the pictures. Now I think I can do it!
Karen, don’t listen to these people that demand you make cranberry sauce. That is precisely the thing that you farm out to one of your guests. In fact, I always volunteer to make cranberry sauce, precisely because I’M NOT HOSTING! In fact I usually make some other stuff too, but again, because I don’t want to cook a damned turkey which is way more difficult and time consuming.
On the pie front, I actually prefer butternut squash pie. But you follow exactly the same instructions. go figure.
I love the pictures too!
Thank you Sera! You’ll notice that of all the people who wanted me to make my own cranberry sauce, none a single ONE of them volunteered to make it, refrigerate it and then send me the whole thing, fridge and all via Purolator by Sunday afternoon. 🙂 ~ karen p.s. I’ve heard squash makes excellent pumpkin pie. Perhaps I’ll try it once pie pumpkins are out of season!
Now I wish our Thanksgiving was in October, I can’t wait to make this pumpkin pie! DO NOT make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving! Make this cranberry relish for any night that’s NOT Thanksgiving. Frozen or fresh cranberries sorted and dumped into a food processor, pulse until it’s kind of like a fine relish. Now measure out how many cups of cranberry relish you have and add an equal amount of sugar. (2 cups relish? add 2 cups sugar) In a bowl stir it all up and let it sit in the fridge for a while, overnight is the best. Now serve it cold on top of almost any chicken or turkey creamy casserole, or on any turkey/chicken sandwich, or just eat it straight out of the bowl, ’cause it’s soooo good.
Angie. O.K. You’ve convinced me. ~ karen
Lo and behold I found sugar pumpkins at the grocery store and bought two…then learned that my mom already made pies for Thanksgiving dinner…but I’m hosting Christmas dinner. Do you think I can (1) store the pumpkins in a cool place until December (2) roast them then freeze the cooked pulp; or (3) roast them, add the other stuff and then freeze all that until Christmas? We always had pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner but obviously it always came from a can!
Hi Janelle! You have a few options. As you know! If I were you I would cook the pumpkin as I’ve stated, let it drain and then puree it. Then freeze it. When you go to use it in December, I would thaw it, re-puree it and then re-drain it. (to make sure the pulp still has a good consistency and isn’t watery. I wouldn’t bake the pie first and then freeze it. I don’t think the pumpkin puree will maintain a nice consistency and I fear the texture will get a bit grainy. I don’t think your pumpkins will last until December in a cool place. I’m not *positive* but I don’t think so. The other thing you can do is make your pie out of butternut squash. I’ve never done it, but I know that a lot of pumpkin pie recipes call for butternut squash as an alternative to pumpkin! Let’s face it … the spices are what give pumpkin pie most of it’s flavour anyway! Let me know how it all works out! – karen
8-12 weeks is about tops for a properly cured and stored pumpkin.
I’m glad you said you can make this with squash. Although we can get pumpkins over here, they tend to be the biggish ones for carving up for hallow’een.
Butternut squashes are much easier to come by. Yum yum.
I’m disappointed that you’re being so adamant about the cranberry sauce, you could even use maple syrup instead of sugar…
Hi!! I have a rolling pin just like yours – scares all men…
Me too! But now I’m wondering where the danged thing IS. I usually cheat and buy crusts (but I make cranberry sauce for MONTHS when they’re in season…whee!)
So which pie won?
Squash is really soft too, if it’s straight from the garden, you can even peel it like a cucumber. It actually took two weeks of sitting on my counter for the acorn squash to get as hard as it does at the grocery store.
I don’t know what kind of pumpkins are growing in my garden I didn’t plant them. I’m really curious as to how they would taste in a pie, what happens if you use a halloween pumpkin for a pie? Does anybody know? Does it taste scary? Ha ha.
I make cranberry sauce, ever since I discovered how easy it is I bring it where ever I’m going and I even made it when I made turkey for Christmas two years ago. That said, I didn’t make a pie.
Sweet potato pie sounds yummy.
Turnips are growing on me. It’s taken years, still the thought of them in a pie is… I’d have to try it and be allowed to spit it out. LOL! gag.
Have you ever heard of Zucchini bread/Zucchini cake? You should try it. Yum.
Anna! I grow acorn squash too and you’re actually supposed to let it cure for a couple of weeks … so it being soft when you first pick it is normal! I HAVE had zucchini bread. And it *is* delicious. 🙂 – karen! Oh and … click here to see which pumpkin pie won!
I made this recipe over the weekend and…they LOVED it!! Now, I’m usually not a pumpkin pie kinda girl, but it was SOOOO good. It’s now in my recipe book. I didn’t have evaporated milk so I just used some heavy cream. There was no way I was going to drive 20 minutes just for evaporated milk. Thanks Karen!
I send this recipe to my husband and he made it last week. It was fantastic! Now I want to have pumpkin pie all year round.
I had to go and look at my cans of pumpkin that I had in my pantry. The main ingredient was pumpkin.
Good job! You should try the real pumpkin though. The difference is unbelievable! I was stunned! ~ karen
I made pumpkin pie with real pumpkins, frozen pie crust, and the maple whipped cream. I converted people who claim they hate pumpkin pie to loving pupmkin pie. Now I have to make 4 pies for Thanksgiving!
Hah! Sorry ’bout that. 🙂 ~ karen
I like most of your details on making pie with the actual Pumpkin, but cannot share it with students because of your frequent use of profanity….Clean it up
Deb – I’m not sure what made you think this particular blog was a blog for kids, but it’s not. I’m also not sure why you think I should clean it up for you. The one reader to complain about the “profanity”. I prefer to cater to the half a million who read and enjoy it. It’s a blog for like-minded adults who have a sense of humour. You know. The kind of people who aren’t offended by HBO. Sorry. There’s plenty of other blogs or you to choose from. ~ karen
Yes.
I also have a rolling pin that is marble but mine is a dark green and came with a matching green marble stand to keep it from rolling away. I had the strange foresight to shell out the whole $15 I paid for it at an antique mall when I was surprisingly young to make such an astute purchase. The funny thing is that I almost got rid of it in a fit of purging. Really glad I didn’t because I now use it to make cookies that I decorate for my son.
I thought your response to Deb Robins was spot-on and well written. I have a young son, but don’t share your blog with him (except for the animal pics). I actually think I appreciate it even more as the rare thing I get to enjoy these days that is adult in nature. So, thanks for what you do. You do it well. You and David Sedaris are about the only people who can make me laugh out loud while I’m reading.
Tigersmom – That’s about the highest compliment you could pay me. ~ karen!
So I just finished pouring my pumpkin purée into the crust and I’m concerned its a little runny?? This is my first try with any sort of pie so maybe this is normal? I drained in cheese cloth over night and followed to a “T”….think it will be ok?
Oop .. probably too late for my answer now Cherie. Yes. It’ll be fine. The filling looks so runny that it’ll never firm up. Bit it does! Lemme know how it tastes. ~ karen
Love this! I’ve been in love with pumpkin lately and debating about the merits of making my own pumpkin puree. Do you know if you can freeze it if you make a bunch of it so you have it on hand if a pumpkin craving strikes in say February?
Hi Jenna – Yes. You can absolutely freeze pumpkin puree. You may need to re-strain it to reduce the amount of water again. Other than that it’ll be fine. ~ karen!
Karen, hi!
I just made this pie and the crust came out all raw at the bottom. Did you blind bake? ´cause judging from your pictures it doesn´t seem like you did.
I´m probably gonna try blind baking next time because I have a lot of pumpking puree leftover. Delish, by the way…thank you so much.
Oh, and for how long do you think I can store it in the fridge before it goes bad?
Thanks again Karen, love your blog!
Hi Heidi! Oh for the love of the Lord, I can’t remember if I blind baked it or not. I always do so I may not have mentioned it in the post. eep. Also … the pie pan you use can make a huge difference. Nothing gets a better crust than a Pyrex/glass pie plate. The puree won’t last more than a couple of days in the fridge uncooked. I froze some this year out of curiosity to see if it freezes well. I’m guessing no, but it’s an experimental option. ~ karen!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Being an Australian, I was introduced to pumpkin pie by an American friend of mine who celebrates Thanksgiving…and instantly fell in love at first bite! However, given that my friend’s ‘secret’ ingredient was canned pumpkin (which is imported and RIDICULOUSLY expensive over here), it became a dish that I could only have once a year 🙁 But, thanks to this recipe, I can have it whenever I like! Hooray!
Hurray! 🙂 ~ karen
I have made pumpkin pie from scratch the last couple years (definitely worth it) Although, the recipe I follow from a friend has us cut the pumpkin up, cut off the skin, cube it, boil it and then puree it. Your way of baking the pumpkin seems so much easier. I have 4 small pumpkins this year- I might use 2 my old fashioned way and 2 your way 🙂 Am I crazy? Have you ever heard of anyone cutting up the pumpkin and boiling it? I wonder if there is any difference.
Hi Lauren – I have heard of other people doing that but I prefer my way for 2 reasons. Things that are roasted always have better depth of flavour, and the pumpkin loses moisture (which in this case is good) as opposed to gaining moisture from the boiling. ~ karen!
Thanks for the info. I made my pies today and your way was extremely easier! I was going to use 2 pumpkins my old way but after seeing how easy the first 2 were your way, I did them all like that 😀 Happy Thanksgiving!
Excellent! I’m happy you’re pies turned out well Lauren. I’m Canadian so my Thanksgiving was actually over and done with a month ago … but happy Thanksgiving to you! ~ karen
I made this pie for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately my pie pumpkin was a tad too small (yielding only 1 cup) so for the other cup I used an acorn squash. It still turned out delicious. This is now my go to pumpkin pie recipe!!
Excellent! Sigh. I wish I had pumpkin pie right now. ~ karen!
Thank you for this. Compliments galore and I actually dreamed about pie last night. In my dream I pulled out a second pie. Oh, the happiness radiated from that pie. It was visible. An orange glow of goodness and thankfulness.
Thanks lady, I’ll never use canned again.
Thank you so much for the great recipe and detailed information! This is great! I am making the real pumpkin pie for this Thanksgiving and cannot wait to use your recipe! 😀
Excellent! It’ll be good. I’m Canadian so our Thanksgiving is long gone. Have a piece for me. ~ karen!
I cook my pie pumpkins in the microwave….simply pierce all over with a skewer….zap on high approx 10 min on a paper towel…when cool…skin pops off and scoop out seeds…mash ‘meat’. Simple. 🙂
Hi Lynne – That’s a great idea! For most things, like soup or side dishes I’d prefer the taste of a roasted pumpkin, but for pie, the microwaved version would be great. ~ karen!
Okay, this post (like many others I must say) has inspired me! Yesterday while shopping I came across Pie Pumpkins and though…..”Why the hell not? Karen has enlightened me!”…..:D THE pie is in the oven as we speak and the house is abuzz with excitement as we can’t wait to try a ‘real pumpkin’ pumpkin pie! Thanks!!
That’s exciting on a whole variety of levels! Hope it turns out well. Happy thanksgiving! ~ karen
Karen…..my ‘real pumpkin’ pumpkin pie….WAS….AN….EPIC….SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!! from this moment on, it will be the only version of pumpkin pie I make! 🙂 Thanks!
Yesssssss! Glad it was a hit for you! Kay. I have to finish cleaning the kitchen. On hour 14 now. ~ karen!
This was THE best pumpkin pie I’ve ever made and tasted. Made 2 for thanksgiving and they were a HUGE success. Thanks for the recipe and never again will I buy canned pumpkin!
An alternate method for getting the pumpkin meat ready for the pie is to cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, cut the halves into manageable sections, pare off the rind, and cut the strips into chunks about a couple of inches square. Steam the chunks over, but not in, boiling water for about 15 – 20 minutes. The pumpkin will then be soft enough to mash with a potato masher. This may sound complicated but it actually takes a lot less time (and uses less energy) than baking the pumpkin in the oven and deals with the problem of too much moisture.
When we had a pumpkin patch on our own country property when our sons were growing up, I could harvest, prepare and package in one day, enough 2 cup tubs of pumpkin to freeze to make 26 pies – one every other week until pumpkin season rolled round again.
Talk about family favourite! – and the recipe I used was almost identical to the one shown here.
Hi Meg – Forgive me, but how is that easier than cutting it in half and putting it in the oven? ~ karen
Ok, I am going to do this, but wondered if you can make the pumpkin a couple of weeks ahead? Can you freeze it or refrigerate it for that long?
Hi Terri – You definitely can’t refrigerate it for a couple of weeks, but you may be able to freeze it. The one thing I think could go wrong is it’ll become more watery, so you’ll have to drain it again. Is there a reason you want to do it 2 weeks in advance? ~ karen!
Thanks for your response! I have a pie pumpkin sitting on my counter. I thought it might not last very much longer. So I wanted to roast it now and use later!
That’s what I figured. 🙂 Depending on where you are in the world you can keep it outside and it’ll last for a week or two. You need to keep it cool (50 degrees or less). ~ karen!
Actually, if you put the baked pumpkin halves in the refrigerator and let them get cold, you can forget the spoon and just peal the pumpkin skins right off. Easy as pie! Takes far less time and it’s far less messy to peal than to scoop with a spoon.