My Pumpkin Pie

Nothing better then homemade pumpkin pie. I absolutely HATE canned pumpkin, so for the last 7 years I've been making my own homemade pumpkin. There's several ways to make homemade pumpkin puree, but I find the easiest way is to boil the pumpkin, the way you would a yam. Depending upon the size of a pumpkin you choose to cook, you'll likely end up with extra pumpkin - more then you'll need for 1 or 2 pumpkin pies. If your not intending to make other pumpkin dishes immediately, you can easily store whats left over in the freezer. You can either carefully pour it into a zip lock bag (be sure to flatten it out in the freezer so it doesn't take up too much space, or a food saver vacuum seal bag or in a freezer safe plastic container.

If your planning to use canned pumpkin, you can skip to the bottom of the page for the pie recipe.

Pureed Pumpkin



What you need: 1 pumpkin, any size (except the mini's of course)
Water
Directions:
Start by washing the outside of the pumpkin with warm water & dish soap - rinse well. Next cut off the top of the pumpkin, cut the pumpkin into large chunks, then remove the seeds and stringy stuff. If you like to roast the seeds, store the seeds in an air tight container or zip lock in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

Next you may want to cut the chunks into smaller pieces - 2 - 3 inch squares are perfect. This is so they fit easier in a stock pot, plus the smaller they are the quicker they cook, just don't cut them too small.

Put all the pumpkin pieces into a large stock pot - if your cooking a really large pumpkin or more then one, you may need to use two pots (last year I had 3 large pumpkins, took three 14 quart stock pots). Fill with water to cover completely. Bring to a boil on the stove, and continuously boil, until pumpkin is tender and starts to pull away. This usually takes about 20 minutes.

Once pumpkin is fully cooked, drain into a large colander. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes - i'm very impatient and never do this so I end up with burned finger tips every year. Once the pumpkin pieces are cool enough to handle, remove skins - some might already have fallen off while boiling. Discard the skins, place cooked pumpkin in a large bowl. Once all skins are removed, in batches, puree in blender until smooth.

Allow cooked pumpkin to cool completely before using it for pumpkin pie. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, so if your not planning to use it right away, store in the freezer, will keep up to a year in the freezer if store in food saver vacuum sealed bags.

My Pumpkin Pie




Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 15oz can pumpkin)
14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 inch deep dish unbaked pie shell

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F

Whisk pumpkin, condensed milk, eggs, spices & salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into pie shell.

Bake 15 minutesat 425F.

Reduce heat to 350F, continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.