Like pumpkin pie.
"Hold on," you might be thinking. "You said pumpkin pie was easy. Only six ingredients. Only four steps. You've made it before. Don't torment us with words like 'mess'."
True. I have made pumpkin pie before, and it was easy. But "mess" doesn't have to equal "challenging". Before you run back to my Traditional Pumpkin Pie recipe just think how impressed your friends/relatives/guests might be when you tell them you made that pumpkin pie with a real, honest-to-gourd pumpkin.
While I've considered myself a baker for at least six years, I have had yet to make a pumpkin pie with anything but Libby's brand canned pumpkin or, occasionally, a jarred pumpkin butter. Then I was shopping at Trader Joe's and spotted some nice, small, round Pie Pumpkins (I think they may officially be called "Sugar Pumpkins") advertised up front. "Those might be nice for decorating my little place," I thought, and bought two of them. One I decorated with markers:
(He's a character from an online game I play. You probably won't recognize him...)
But I couldn't decide what to do with the other one. Carve? Draw another character? And then I saw the little Trader Joe's sticker stuck to the bottom of the pumpkin with a recipe for--you guessed it--pumpkin pie.
"I can do this," I thought.
Now the sticker recipe called for 1/2 to 1 cup whipping cream (which would probably kill me) as well as one stick of melted butter (which seemed like unnecessary fat given the fact that no other pumpkin pie recipe I've seen calls for butter and they still come out super delicious). It also called for more nutmeg, but I cut that in half because, even though I like it, that particular spice can be a tad overpowering. The substitutions are easy. It's the actual roasting of a real live (live?) pumpkin that can be intimidating. Yet that turned out surprisingly easy as well. Just make sure you have a sharp knife and:
Step 1: Wash pumpkin and cut pumpkin in half.
Step 3: Remove seeds and strings. Leave as much pumpkin "meat" as possible (Hint: this is the messy part).
Step 4: Place pumpkin halves cut side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Step 5: Roast until soft at 350 degrees for about 1 hour (original recipe said 1.5 hours, but it started to brown after just one). Then scoop out all the meat into a bowl (not the little green strings) and save for the recipe that follows!
Ingredients:
1 "pie pumpkin" innards, thoroughly mashed
1 cup lite coconut milk (a nice substitution for those who are lactosely challenged. I had a handy can of Thai Kitchen brand in my pantry)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 empty pie shell/ready-made pie crust (I buy whole wheat pie crust from Whole Foods).
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (if it's not already there after roasting the pumpkin). In your bowl of pumpkin innards, add the milk and eggs. Stir together.
2.) Add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar to the bowl and make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour a smooth filling into your pie shell and bake about 40 minutes (place the pie on a cookie sheet while baking in case the filling overflows. Mine did not, but you can never be too careful). Then lower the temperature to 325 degrees, cover with foil to prevent burning, and bake for another 20 minutes (Be warned--if you position the foil directly above the pie it will stick to the pie and pie goop will stick to the foil. You can see the slightly cracked appearance that gives your pie in the photo below. Not the most professional look, but it has no affect on the flavor. In fact, you can lick up the pie goop while you wait for your pie to cool...).
3.) Allow the pie to come to room temperature before serving, or refrigerate overnight and serve with your nondairy whipped topping of choice the next day (or marshmallows if you read my traditional pumpkin pie recipe). Yum. Super yum. And that's it.
Three steps? Only three steps? I told you it was still easy. If I were to make it again, I might leave the pie in just a little longer (the filling did hold together, but just barely, and you might want a little more solid of a pie).
Oh and BONUS: if you make a pie from real fresh pumpkins, you also get some lovely leftover seeds to roast, absolutely free (do NOT let these tasty snacks go to waste!). That's equally simple:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (you can actually do this while the pie is baking) and rinse your pumpkin seeds in a bowl until all pumpkin "gunk" comes off. Pat dry with paper towels.
2.) Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Spread your seeds out evenly in a single layer across the sheet and spray the seeds with nonstick cooking spray as well. Sprinkle with salt, garlic salt, or whichever seasoning you prefer.
3.) Bake on the top rack of the oven (this can be while your pie bakes in the center/lower rack) for 40 minutes or until crunchy to the taste.
My first pumpkin pie of the season was "au naturale" but I'm not opposed to going back to canned filling for the next one. Is the flavor superior? I'll let you be the judge. I'm too busy finding both of them in my stomach.
See, now you've already forgotten about the mess....
