I was watching Good Eats the other day and Alton Brown made pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin. I have always wanted to do that....soooo....I was in Safeway today and they had organic sugar pumpkins! Score!
I brought it home, cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, put the halves face down on a parchment lined baking sheet, and baked them until they were super tender. I was unsure of what the taste and texture would be like.....taste: very sweet...texture, suprisingly smooth! I scooped out the flesh from the skin and threw it in the food processor until it was super finely pureed. Then I put the puree in a saucepan on medium heat and let it cook for a few minutes to evaporate the extra liquid from it. It was now ready to make the filling.
I dumped the filling ingredients into the food processor (No...I didn't wash it in between) mixed them up and poured the filling into a Trader Joe's pie crust....already made! They are pretty dang good for a store-bought crust....actually the best I've ever had! Baked it up and voila! Pumpkin Pie....old style.
Now...what to do with the extra pumpkin puree I have left over.....cookies, bread, pancakes?
Pumpkin Pie a la Alton Brown
16 oz. pumpkin puree-freshly made
1 c. half and half * I used 1 c. evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 c. brown sugar * I used 1 cup brown sugar
1 t. nutmeg-freshly grated
1/2 t. kosher salt
* I added 1 t. cinnamon and 1 t. pumpkin pie spice.
Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Bake @ 425 for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the center is just barely jiggly!
Let cool completely.
