My Ultimate Pumpkin Pie

Ok, so that may be overstating things a little bit. But, it was my job to bring bread and pie to Thanksgiving dinner one year… and I hadn’t done pie in a looong time, so I did a fair amount of digging and searching and experimenting. Through some trial and error, I think I’ve come up with could be “it”, what could be “my ultimate pumpkin pie recipe”. And I realize that this is kind of too late for this years Thanksgiving, but try it for Christmas… or just any ol’ time.

The all-nut crusts I tried are pretty good, and the pie I did a couple weeks back worked well, but was… just a bit lacking. I’ve always wondered about doing a pumpkin pie with a Graham cracker crust, but I think I’ve found an even better alternative. A blend of chopped walnuts (pecans if I make it for my Aunt Andi as she’s allergic to walnuts) and shortbread cookie crumbs. Even with the honey, the all nut crust was just… there… holding in the pie filling. It really didn’t add anything to the taste. Graham crackers would probably work well too.

Now for the filling, I decided to go really ultimate, and use actual sugar pumpkin, fresh – not canned. I found one that weighed about 3 pounds at Trader Joe’s today. Now a warning… don’t buy one of these to make a jack-o-lantern out of.

Sweet pumpkins have a VERY hard shell like skin on them. Nearly every recipe I read on-line talked about cutting the thing in half and baking, but taking my cleaver to it only managed to slightly chip it. But you need to do this, and punch a couple holes through so the steam can escape when you put the thing on a cookie sheet and pop it in a 350-degree oven for about 90 minutes to cook. Give it up to 2 hours if it’s larger than 4 pounds. The pie I did for Thanksgiving this year I ended up with two smaller pumpkins, about 2 pounds each… and I ended up taking my cordless drill and putting three holes around the top of each one to let steam out. Now IMHO, any time you can use power-tools in the kitchen… all the better

Do the pumpkin a day or two ahead of when you plan to bake this. Once that pumpkin comes out of the oven, the shell will be cooked enough that you can crack it open… but first grab a towel or hot pads and hold the thing over sink and turn it so the water from inside can drain out one of the holes you put through the shell. Then crack it open and carefully scoop the seeds and stringy stuff out of the middle. Clean up the seeds if you want to roast them, or just toss them. Then scoop the meat into another bowl and use a mixer to purée it all. This will help get any stray “strings” out as they get caught up on the mixer blades. Fresh pumpkin has a LOT more water in it than the canned stuff… so put the puree in colander (one with small holes or lined with cheese cloth) over a bowl and let it drain for awhile, even overnight, getting as much of the excess water out as you can. Once it’s cooled to about room temp you can just pop the whole thing in the fridge until you are ready for the rest.

The Crust

4 ounces Scottish shortbread cookies
4 ounces walnut pieces
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp honey

In a food processor or blender or what-have-you, chop up the cookies in to fine crumbs and the walnuts into small crumbs. You want the biggest nut pieces to be smaller than your average Grape Nuts kernels. Put both those in a bowl, pour about half of the melted butter in to your tablespoon then put in the bowl followed by measuring out a tablespoon of honey. The melted butter coating the spoon will help the honey slide right out. Repeat with the rest of the butter and do the second teaspoon of honey.

Mix well then press the crumb mixture in to the bottom of your pan. If using a pie plate, work almost all the way up the sides… and press well in to the bottom so you don’t get a build up at the corner. Try to get as even a covering as possible and then pop this in a 350 degree oven for 11-13 minutes. The top edges of the sides should just start browning if you are using a pie plate. This “roasts” the nuts a bit and help get some of the excess moisture out of the crust.

Now you can work on the filling…

16 ounces pureed pumpkin
2 oz banana, mashed (about 1/2 banana)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
10 ounces plain, Greek yogurt
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground clove

Start by creaming the banana and sugar to make sure you get rid of any lumps of banana. Then start adding the other ingredients and mix it all well with your mixer. Pour over the crust and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Do the toothpick test to see if it’s done all the way through.

You’ll want to let it cool before serving, but don’t serve it cold. Make it the day before and store in the fridge, but let it sit out a bit before serving, and don’t forget the whipped cream!

A few last notes;

If you don’t want to do work for the fresh pumpkin, use a can, but make sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling that already has the spices. The usual can is 15oz, and should work fine. You want the banana to be easily mashable, so grab an older one. If it’s too firm, try popping it in the oven when you bake the crust. If I need to make one of these again, I’m still tempted to try it with Graham crackers, or maybe ginger snaps…?

If you go with a springform pan, you can probably reduce the cookies and walnuts to 3 ounces each if you want, unless you want a thicker crust. If you go that route, put a piece of parchment over the bottom before putting the ring on it, that will just make it easier to get the pie out later. Also, this is a custard like filling, it will more than likely crack a bit as it cools, it’s not a big deal (just hide them with the whipped cream).

While Greek style yogurts are getting easier to find, but if you can’t find it, try putting regular yogurt in a fine mesh sieve or colandar lined with cheese cloth and let a bunch of the liquid drain out to thicken the yogurt you have.