First things first. Do not try and make a pumpkin pie with a Halloween pumpkin. Halloween pumpkins are bred specifically for carving – thick skin, hollow inside. Taste and consistency were not factors in the development of these varieties. Since it’s December, there’s probably little chance you would try this….but I thought I’d warn you just in case.
What kind of pumpkin should you use? There are more choices than I ever imagined. Cinderella, Pink Banana, Sugar Pie, and Blue Hubbard are all good pie pumpkins. I chose a Sugar Pie Pumpkin from Sun Gold Farm. I bought it back in early November and have kept it in a milk crate in our chilly mudroom for the last two months. I couldn’t fit the pumpkin on the airplane with me for a Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie. So, since we’re home for Christmas, Christmas Pumpkin Pie it is.
Meet my pumpkin:
About a 9 pounder I think. He held up pretty well! Pumpkins will keep for months if stored so air can circulate around them at about 55 degrees.
Here’s Sun Gold Farm’s Pumpkin Recipe. I haven’t decided if I’m going to use this one I’ll probably go with The Best Pumpkin Pie recipe from Cooks Illustrated.
Washing the pumpkin was pretty easy. Cutting it in half took some effort and attention.
Scoop out the seeds then roast in the oven in an 1/8″ of water at 350 until the pumpkin is soft to the touch. About an hour.
This makes me wonder how commercial pumpkin processors de-seed their pumpkins before they make it in the can. Did somebody invent a special pumpkin de-seeder machine?
Processed pumpkin varieties tend to be hybrids specially bred for making it through processesing, like Buckskins and Chelseas. I’m wishing that I had some canned pumpkin to compare to my fresh pumpkin. Is there really a difference?
Boy did these smell good.
The pumpkin was easily scoopable.
Taster #1 (me) thought it tasted like an earthy squash (but thinks she needs to come up with a better word than earthy. And that when people don’t know how to describe a vegetable that isn’t sweet, they call it earthy.) Taster #2 (husband) looked up after his spoonful and said, “you’re going to add sugar to this, right?”
Once scooped, the pumpkin needs to be pureed in preparation for a pie.
Ta da!
My pumpkin turned into 4 cups of pumpkin puree. Enough for two pies. Or one pie plus some other pumpkin concoction. Any suggestions??
Today was pumpkin preparation day. Tomorrow is pie preparation day. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Happy Holidays!
Are you cooking Yams, I mean, sweet potatoes this week – and wondering what the difference is? Check out: Sweet Potato vs. Yam: Blame it on Louisiana
Want more veggies? Check out last week’s veggie story: Tender Tales of Cannellini Beans. New veggie stories every Thursday.
Did you see last week’s market photos? Click here for Monday Dose of Market: Finally I’m a Farmer! New photos every Monday.
New to The Weekly Veggie? Read how it all began with My Childhood Vegetable Nemesis
When I roasted my pie pumpkins for Thanksgiving, I froze a few extra cups of pureed pumpkin that wasn’t needed. Just thawed it and made pumpkin-cranberry-walnut bread. Actually, I still have extra cranberries in the freezer. When they are so cheap at Thanksgiving, I usually freeze a couple of bags to use in baking later in the year.
Spices for the pumpkin pie are another topic. In the Denver/Boulder area we have Savory Spice Shop. They grind their spices fresh every week. Their wide assortment and reasonable prices will keeping you coming back. I use their Vietnamese Cinnamon in my pumpkin pies. Yummy! Cristin, thanks for the great blog and Merry Christmas!
Mellon ballers are the greatest fr de-seeding pumpkins and many other things. Even a tiny sized one does a great job.
I usually use a big metal spoon (that usually ends up bending) to scoop out the seeds. I also like baking the seeds on a tray in the oven…they’re really good!
B – Thanks for the suggestion and kind words about the blog! I look forward to visiting the spice shop. Hope you had a great holiday.
T/K – I should have asked for a melon baller from Christmas.