Iceberg to Arugula

Do you remember the Super Bowl commercial a year or two ago that featured a dowdy woman being hotly pursued by legions of men that found her somehow irresistible despite her “monobrow” and perma-wedgie? How did she get all the male attention?

She dabbed cashews behind her ears. 

Now, I have to say, I’m sure this doesn’t work. Because if you’re craving masculine attention, the thing you really need to dab behind your ears is….wait for it….

Pumpkin pie.

Mind you, I have absolutely no scientific evidence to back me up on this.  However, I remain convinced that there’s something hardwired on the Y chromosome that renders men helpless in the face of this silky pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and clove cocktail. 

That said, we have just entered the time of year when I start getting questions from random folks in my life about how to make a pumpkin pie using an actual pumpkin rather than the canned stuff.

The question that begs to be asked is: Is it worth it to go to the trouble of cutting up the unwieldy orange orb and wade through lots of ooky pumpkin innards in order to get my pie fix?

Yep.

I do think that solid pack canned pumpkin has quite a bit going for it, so I’m not dissing the can. Consider the following:

• Solid pack pumpkin usually is a one ingredient item, meaning no artificial colors, flavors or stabilizers have been added.
• Pumpkin is loaded with beta carotene, your body converts this to Vitamin A which it uses to help bolster your immune system. Great for this time of year when most of us are playing dodge ball with cold and flu viruses. 
• Overall pumpkin is low in calories and fat.
• Opening a can is faster.

However, nutrition aside, from a culinary standpoint using fresh rather than canned pumpkin frequently just tastes better. Not to mention that in many circles, it will also qualify you for bragging rights. (“What?!?! You used a real pumpkin to make this pie! Wow! You rock!”)

First, start with the right pumpkin. The large pumpkins used for carving Jack O Lanterns at Halloween will NOT work. The flesh contains too much water and not enough sugar, generally pies made with these pumpkins are bland and don’t have a good texture.

Look for pumpkins that are intended for cooking. Most of the time they are called “sugar”, “pie” or “cheese” pumpkins. The one I used for these pictures was called a “Sugarpie”. Usually they are about the size of a medium cantaloupe and weigh about 4-5 pounds. In the photo below, you can see the Sugarpie pumpkin is significantly smaller than the Jack ‘O Lantern variety.

Wash the pumpkin prior to cutting and with a very sturdy, sharp and heavy knife, cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy interior.

You will find that pie pumpkins frequently have A LOT of seeds relative to their size. One 4 pound pumpkin should provide about 1 cup of slick, plump seeds. Be sure to reserve the seeds for a healthy roasted snack:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse seeds and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and roast 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  

Check out Jessica Levinson’s post at Nutritioulicious on pumpkin seed nutrition.

Cut the pumpkin in 8 wedges (leave skin on) and place 1 cut side down on a cooling rack positioned over a low rimmed sheet pan. This helps ensure even roasting and catches any water that may be released which would impede the roasting process.

Roast about 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees or until pumpkin is fork tender, that is, if you pierce the flesh with a fork, there is little resistance. Let wedges cool until they can be handled comfortably by hand.

Pull skin off wedges, this is fairly easy to do by hand when the pumpkin is roasted. Remove any hard parts such as the stem, etc.

Cut into 1 inch chunks and place in food processor. Pulse and add water sparingly (no more than about 1/3 cup if you’re going to use this for a pie or custard) to work pumpkin into a smooth puree.

Be patient, fresh pumpkin stubbornly takes a while to puree well.

You will find that the fresh pumpkin will be lighter in color than what you may be used to out of the can. Here’s a color comparison:

Fresh puree is on top, canned puree on the bottom. Despite the color difference, pies made with the fresh puree have the same color as those made with the canned puree.

The flavor and smell of the fresh puree is delicate and complex making for a much more sophisticated end product. In comparison, the canned product looks “curdled” with a more one dimensional aggressive “yammy” scent. I’d never really noticed that until I started roasting my own pumpkins. Despite the more pronounced scent of the canned pumpkin, pies made with fresh pumpkin generally are more flavorful.   

One 4 pound pumpkin should yield about 3 cups puree.

Pumpkin Pie

Makes one 9 inch pie

1 1/2 cup fresh pureed pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups evaporated whole milk

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

1 recipe for basic pie dough to make 1 shell for a 9 inch pie or use the equivalent in premade dough.

· Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

· Line pie plate with dough

· Mix remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

· Pour pumpkin mixture into prepared pie plate.

· Place pie in oven on lower rack of oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the pie comes out clean. Jiggle the pie, it should wiggle a bit.

Allow to cool and serve garnished with whipped cream as desired.

For some additional fabulous non-pie pumpkin creations check out these recipes from some of my blogger friends:

Tram’s Pumpkin Walnut Muffins at Nutrition to Kitchen

Linda’s Pumpkin Custard at Kitchen Therapy

Marsha’s Pumpkin Stew at A Weight Lifted

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!