Pumpkin Pie from REAL Pumpkins plus Grandma’s Pie Crust

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 2 hours
Yield: 2 incredible pies

Watch Christine on Fox 5 - Good Day NY teaching Bianca Peters and Ines Rosales how to make REAL pumpkin pie!

It starts with real pumpkins and believe me, the extra time it takes to roast them is definitely worth it! My secret to sensational pumpkin pie, in addition to using REAL pumpkins, is to follow the recipe on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin can. How Ironic is that!?! 🥫🎃! Grab two sugar pumpkins and lets get baking! The preparation of this recipe can be thought of in three steps:

Roast the pumpkins
Make the pie crust
Make the pie filling

Roasted Sugar Pumpkins

INGREDIENTS

2 sugar pumpkins

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut sugar pumpkins in half, scoop out and discard the seeds.
Coat pumpkins halves all over in oil.
Place on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 1 hour

Grandma’s Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS

5 cups (600grams) of AP Flour (or for Gluten-Free, substitute King Arthur GF all purpose flour)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 lb shortening, chilled (…or lard if we could get our hands on it!)

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

3 Tablespoons vinegar

Enough icy cold water to reach 3/4 cup when mixed with the egg and vinegar

METHOD

Process flour, sugar and shortening in the bowl of a food processor until it looks like coarse sand; about 5 1-second pulses.
Turn mixture into a large bowl and then scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or two knives moving in opposite directions, cut butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than peas.
Create a well in the center of your mixture and set aside.
In a 1-cup liquid measuring cup, mix egg with the vinegar then top it with icy cold water until it measures 3/4 cup.
Pour egg liquid in the well of your flour mixture and gently toss and mix flour mixture together with the liquid. Do this until the dough just begins to clump together.
Form dough into three balls and then flatten them into 4” disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Roll out one disk on floured surface and gently place in pie plate. Prick dough with a fork in several places.
Scallop the edge of the dough using your thumb and both forefingers but be careful not to squeeze any part too thin as this may cause burning of the edge.
Add the filling… recipe below!
Using the dough scraps, make a few decorative cutouts and place them on the surface of the pie (optional).
Chill pie for 30 minutes then bake as directed below.

REAL Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS

2 sugar pumpkins, roasted and flesh scooped out of skins (~29 ounces / 822 grams)

3 cups (24 fluid oz) evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Scoop flesh out of roasted sugar pumpkins.
In a powerful blender or food processor, process 29 ounces / 822 grams of pumpkin flesh, sugar and evaporated milk until it’s smooth and creamy. All the strings from the pumpkin should be finely incorporated.
Pour into a large bowl and whisk in eggs, salt and spices until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Pour into two unbaked pie shells.
Using the dough scraps, make a few decorative cutouts and place them on the surface of the pie (optional).
Chill pie for 30 minutes then bake at 400 degrees for 10minutes. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 35 - 45 min longer until center is just set.
Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.