Having had a pumpkin patch for the last few years, it seems only natural that I have become a bit of a pumpkin pie aficionado. I have tested and tweaked more pumpkin pie recipes than I care to admit, finally landing on a tried and true recipe that I rarely deviate from. It remains my most requested recipe and I have written it down more times than I recall. And have I pumped out the pies from this very recipe over the years. One year I made 17 pumpkin pies over the course of 3 days--the lion's share slated for the local food bank. The pies were a hit, city folk were thrilled at having eaten a pie grown from the cook's garden, and a Thanksgiving tradition was born.
What makes this pie (or any dish for that matter) special is the quality of the ingredients. Whenever possible, make sure they are local and /or organic and minimally processed. Over the years, I have setteled on a few special ingredients that really make this pie pop.
Pumpkin puree: Use only those that have a high sugar content specifically grown for baking. If you can get these local and organic, all the better. If you really want to make it pop, grow your own. You can experiment with any number of high sugar content varieties that are hard to find. "Winter Luxury" is one variety that is delicious and is small enough to be grown in a container.
For the puree, I like to steam or roast pumpkins. Clean out pulp and seeds, cut into halves, and cook until a fork easily pierces the skin like butter. For steaming, place halves face down inside steamer basket over hot water for approximately 40 minutes. For roasting, place pumpkin halves face down on tray and cook at 375 for 60-90 minutes. Scrape the insides and puree in blender or food processor until smooth.
Eggs: Ideally these should be from free range, grass-fed chickens that are happy. Yes, content chickens make really good eggs. I am lucky to own my own healthy, happy chickens, so I use their eggs now, but before the ladies entered my life, I patronized the local egg man and his chickens made some rich, creamy eggs.
Spices: Buy them fresh and grind them yourself, it really makes all the difference in the world. Tinkering around with Indian cooking has taught me that this step is necessary in all styles of cooking.
Crust: Okay, I have tried so many types of crust and the one that everyone goes absolutely ga-ga for is the graham cracker crust, it simply dissolves in the mouth and the crumbly texture is such a nice complement to the creaminess of the pie. If you are blessed enough to have access to a Trader Joe's, it is critical to use their graham crackers, they are insanely delicious and up the yum factor dramatically. If you don't, just use the best quality ones you can find.
Once you have amassed your beautiful bounty of ingredients, it is time to get to work. Start with the crust, you'll need the following:
1 cup of graham crackers (roughly 8 to 10 crackers)
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
Place the crackers into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs. Add the flour, sugar, and butter (slightly cooled) and mix. Press into a pie pan to form the crust then cool in refrigerator while preparing the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350 and start the filling. You will need the following:
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
pinch freshly ground nutmeg, cloves, & cardamon
Mix all the ingredients and pour into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. If you have time to chill overnight in refrigerator, reduce baking time to 35 minutes.
Happy Thanksgiving and Peace!
Annie
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