Favorite Pumpkin Pie
Bake Pumpkin
Our pie pumpkins are a special pumpkin that is sweeter and finer fleshed. One medium to large (2 Lb) will do a little more then one pie. Please do not try to make pie out of cow pumpkins, which are jack-o-lantern pumpkins and much stringier and less nutritious. Yes, originally pumpkins were grown to cut up and feed to the milk cows during the winter, before the days of silage and manufactured supplements. My mother has some vivid memories of that on the farm where she grew up. Wash and cut pumpkin in half from stem end to blossom end. Remove and discard stringy pulp and seeds. Place in covered baking pan or wrap in foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 45- 60 minutes until pulp is tender. Allow to cool. Scrape the pulp from the shell and measure the amount needed for your pie. Extra pumpkin can be placed in freezer Ziplocs and frozen for later use.
Make Crust
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3-cup cooking oil, 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water. Measure flour and salt into bowl and blend. Add oil; mix until particles are the size of grains of wheat. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until flour is completely moist and the dough almost clings (doesn't stick to) the side of the bowl. If the dough seems dry you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil, not additional water. Press dough firmly into a ball, then shape into a flattened round shape. Place the dough between two 12 by 15-inch strips of waxed paper. Wipe rolling surface with damp cloth to keep bottom paper from slipping, and roll out dough 11/2 inch larger then each side of the inverted 9-inch pie pan. Peel off the top paper. Slide your hand under the bottom paper and lift-flip into pan. Gently remove the second paper. Gently slide dough into pan corners. Trim off dough overhanging sides of the pan. Set aside to await filling.
Make Filling
You may want to double this, it works better for the crustless and the evap milk. For pie crust double that one as well. These are the single pie measurements. 2 large eggs, 1 1/2 cup pumpkin pulp, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 2/3 cup (1/2 of a 12 oz. can), evaporated milk. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs, add sugar to eggs and blend, add in pumpkin and blend, add rest of ingredients and blend. Pour into piecrust. You might want to set the piecrust on the oven rack before filling. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 45 to 60 minutes more, until knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean. Cool, invite family and friends to a nutritional treat.
Crustless
Simply pour into a 9 x 14 inch baking dish, (if you've doubled the recipe), after you've sprayed it with cooking spray, unless it's a non stick pan. Bake time is the same. Enjoy!
