Pie Pumpkins...and LOTS of 'em!

I hit the jackpot at the grocery store.  They were practically giving away pie pumpkins just after Thanksgiving...so I snatched up...A LOT!  People were asking me "What are you going to do with those?"  Duh...

Pie Pumpkins are the cute small ones.

I found a recipe on line with complete instructions on how to turn them into PIES!!  I steamed the pumpkins (cut in half with seeds scraped out) for about 30 minutes.  The pumpkin scrapes right out of the shell.  I used my stick blender to blend the cooked pumpkin.  Because I had so many pumpkins to cook up, I froze them for future use.

I did make a pie.  Here’s the recipe I used and, to my surprise, it turned out perfectly!
I took the the pureed pumpkin out of the freezer a day ahead of time and once it was thawed I put it in a strainer over a bowl for a few hours to get out excess water.

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
3 cups prepared pumpkin
1 1/2 cans (12 ounces each) of evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Use a stick blender to combine all ingredients and pour into a homemade pie crust.

Bake at 425 for the first 15 minutes (cover edges with a foil tent), then turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for another 45-60 minutes, until a clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let the pie cool.  Refrigerate until you're ready to serve...with real whipping cream, of course!

Note:  I used to use "pumpkin pie spice" and now after buying all the spices separately and following this recipe, I will never go back.  The flavor is unbelievable when you use the real spices (cloves, allspice, ginger and cinnamon) separately!  Try it, it’s not that hard!

Note #2:  I saved the seeds, dried them out...and I'll plant them next summer...good plan.

Got left over pumpkin?  There’s always pumpkin muffins, pancakes, bread...the list goes on!