Pumpkin Pie

I've been craving a good pumpkin pie ever since I posted the pie crust recipe. Unfortunately, Greg hates pumpkin pie. I KNOW!!! That's pretty much unconstitutional, right?! If I make pumpkin pie, it has to be for a crowd or I'm the only one who ends up eating it. Well, today I found a crowd to share with, so my pie craving has been satisfied...for now.

I had a good friend teach me how to make this pie when I was pregnant with Miles. It has taken a couple attempts to get it right from the crust up, but now that it's right, oh my gosh is it right! There are a few nuggets of knowledge she passed down that make a big difference I think: Handle your pie dough as little as possible, keeping it nice and chilled. And make your own pumpkin purée. Seriously the purée so easy, and so worth it.

Fresh Sugar Pumpkin Purée

Cut your sugar pumpkin in half, and scrape out the seeds and the membranes, reserving the seeds for toasting if desired. Place it cut sides down on a foil lined baking pan, and roast it at 375°F for 1 1/2 hours, or until the pulp is tender. Let it cool in the pan until it can be handled. Separate the pulp from the skin, and purée it until smooth in your blender or food processor.

In my opinion, if you're going to bother baking one pumpkin, you might as well bake two. The extras freeze very well, so when you go to make your next batch of pies, you can just pull out a pre-measured portion from your freezer. Easy as pie. (get it?)

The Best Pumpkin Pie Ever...no joke
(Thank you Martha Stewart)

1/2 recipe basic pie dough
1 cup light-brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups canned or fresh pumpkin purée
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1. Heat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin purée, and 3 eggs. Beat well. Add evaporated milk, and combine. Set aside.
2. Between two big sheets of parchment paper, roll your pie dough into a circle about an inch and a half wider than your pie plate. Place rolled dough into pie plate. (tip: loosen top sheet, then put it back on; flip the dough over, and remove the bottom sheet. With both sheets loosened it will be much easier to transfer the dough into your pan.) Trim dough evenly along edge, leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang. Tuck edges under to build up crust, and pinch to form a decorative edge.
3. Fill pie shell with pumpkin mixture, and bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350, and continue baking for 30 minutes. (It seems like I always have to go longer than this. Both my pies took an extra 10-15 minutes to bake today.) Cool on a wire rack.

PS- Mom, don't look too hard at my crust. I was in a hurry. I swear I have better skills than that.