Fresh Pumpkin Pie Recipe

2 Dec 2013

I am thankful that we live in tropical Philippines where there is no canned pumpkin, because this pushes me to a healthier option of using fresh squash for my pumpkin pie!

Summary

Yield	Slices or Servings
Prep time	1 hour, 30 minutes
Cooking time
Total time	1 hour, 30 minutes

Description

And the taste? Oh so great, it was a hit! One neighbor said, “This is way better than the frozen pumpkin pie we bought.” I totally agree!

Ingredients

... For the crust::

1⁄3 c

butter (salted or unsalted)

1 1⁄2 c

finely crushed graham crackers

2 T

sugar

1⁄8 t

fine salt (omit if using salted butter)

...For the filling:

3 c

cups pumpkin puree

eggs, large

1 1⁄2 c

evaporated milk

1⁄2 c

white sugar (or ¾ - 1 c, depending on how sweet you want it to be)

2 t

ground cinnamon

1⁄2 t

ground nutmeg (I used freshly ground)

1 t

five-spice

1⁄4 t

salt (or ½, depending on your preferences)

1⁄2 t

vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C.

The crust:
Crush graham crackers using food processor. If you don’t have this, simply place the crackers on a clean, flat surface or wider plate then gently roll a glass over with force enough to crush the crackers until you achieved 1 ½ c of it. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small pot over low heat, then mix it well to the crushed crackers along with the sugar salt, and place on the pie pan. Distribute and press evenly on the bottom and on the sides of the pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp. Set aside to cool down.

Preparing squash puree:
Slice the squash (in quarters or however you prefer). Remove the seeds and peel. Slice twice the bite size and place in a pot. Pour in water until it is about 1 inch over the squash. Boil to cook until the pulp is soft. Test with a knife or fork. When the middle is as soft as the outside, this should be done. Let cool and place on the food processor. Let the machine run until the pumpkins are pureed with very fine texture. If there is no food processor, you may simply use fork to smash the pulp until all is smooth.

Preparing the filling:
Take 3 cups of pureed pumpkin and place in a separate bowl and mix well with the rest of filling ingredients.

Bake for 15 minutes at 200°C, then reduce to 170°C and continue to cook for up to 50 minutes or until the middle of the pie does not wiggle. You may insert a toothpick, fork or butter knife in the middle to test its doneness. If it comes out clean, it’s ready to go!

Remove from oven and let cool.

Serve warm or chilled, topped with whipped cream as you please.

Enjoy!