I have never made my own pumpkin pie before. Pie has always been something someone else in the family makes. I found a recipe online that mentioned using different kinds of pumpkins. You didn't have to only use a "pie pumpkin." So I picked up one pie pumpkin and one white pumpkin - let the experiment begin!
1 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1.5 cans (12 oz each) of evaporated milk
Step 1. Select your pumpkin. One 6-8" pie pumpkin (also known as "sugar" pumpkin) should be enough to make one pie plus some extra. I also tried this recipe using a white pumpkin, which was larger and had a lot of extra cooked pumpkin. I really only needed about half the white pumpkin.
Step 2. Prepare the pumpkin for cooking. Rinse the pumpkin in cool water (no soap). Cut the pumpkin in half. I cut them top to bottom so it was two sides (not in half top/bottom), I'm not sure if it makes a difference.
Step 3. Scoop out the seeds. I used an ice cream scoop to scrape out the seeds and stringy gunk. Scrape the inside of the pumpkin to make sure you get all the gunk out. This is a good time to set the seeds aside if you want to save them. You could bake them for a tasty snack, or dry them for future planting.
Step 4. Cook the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin into chunks and put them into a baking dish. I put mine in two 9x9 cake pans. Add a little water to the bottom and cover with tinfoil. Bake at 350-degrees for 45-90 minutes, or until a fork easily pokes through. You'll notice the shell starts to separate from the "meat" of the pumpkin when it's ready.
Step 5. Scoop out cooked pumpkin. The recipe said to use a spoon, but I found that with the pie pumpkin it was pretty easy to peel it by hand. I did need a spoon for the white pumpkin )which also took much longer to bake).
Step 6. Puree the pumpkin. I used a hand blender to puree the baked pumpkin. The recipe said it should take 2-3 minutes and you want it as smooth as possible. You could also use a normal blender if you don't have a hand blender.
Step 7. Set pumpkin puree aside. You will only need 3 cups for this recipe, so if you have more, feel free to freeze it. Or you could freeze it if you want to make the pie at a later time.
Step 8. Make the pie crust. I used a pre-made frozen crust, so I skipped this step. Note, you want a deep dish crust for this recipe.
Step 9. Mix the pie contents. 3 cups of pumpkin puree, 1 cup of sugar, 1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 4 large eggs, 18oz evaporated milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix well using a mixer or hand blender. NOTE: For a larger, or grainier type of pumpkin (such as the white one I used), add an extra 1/4 cup sugar.
Step 10. Pour into pie crust. Remember, this recipe will make more filling than will fit into one deep dish pie crust. Just fill it to the top and set your remaining mix aside.
Step 11. Bake the pie. Bake at 425-degrees for 15 minutes, then at 350-degrees for another 45-60 minutes. You'll know it's ready when a clean knife poked into the middle of the pie comes out clean.
Step 12. Cool the pie. From here it can be eaten right away, or frozen (put some plastic wrap over it first) and eaten later. Some whipped cream on top - enjoy!
Step 13. Deal with your extra mix. I made one pie with the pie pumpkin, and one pie with the white pumpkin. I had a lot of extra mix left afterwards. I made some "muffins" by making a quick crumb mix (crushed graham crackers, butter, and sugar), pushed into the bottom, and filled with mix. I made six of one kind, three of the other, and three of them I mixed the two together. I still had enough mix to make one whole pie with the remainder of both pie mixes. It turned out pretty good too!