Sean's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I go through kitchen phases constantly. Ellen teases me for it, constantly. When we got married a friend gave us a pie making kit (2 pie pans that are still my favorite, a rolling pin, and an apple peeler/slicer/corer). So naturally I started a pie phase, but it never really ended. I've tweaked almost every recipe I've ever found to be really good and have decided to start writing them down. So, seeing as it is Autumn, here's my Pumpkin Pie.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Puree

Preheat the oven to 350°

Cut a pie pumpkin (about the size of a volleyball) into quarters

Scoop out the innards

Place the pumpkin quarters skin down onto a foiled cookie sheet

Bake the pumpkin for about an hour

Pull the skin away from the fleshy part and dispose of the skin

Using a potato masher or food processor mash up the pumpkin

Crust

1 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour

¼ tsp Salt

⅓ cup + 1 Tbs butter flavored shortening

¼ cup cold water

Mix Flour and salt in a small-medium sized bowl

Chop the shortening into the flour mix

Using a pastry mixer or two forks mix the shortening into the flour

(it will look chunky when you’re done)

Add the cold water in and mix together with your hands

(wash your hands and remove any rings)

You will end up with a ball of dough that can me refrigerated or rolled out immediately

Roll it out so it’s about 1/8 of an inch thick

Roll it up with the rolling pin and unroll it onto the pie pan

(Double this recipe if you want two crusts, but for Pumpkin Pie you probably don’t)

Pie Filling

1 ⅓ cups of Pumpkin Puree

1 ⅓ cups of Sweetened Condensed Milk (1 14oz Can)

1 Egg

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Ginger

½ tsp Cloves

1 cup Hot Water

Mix everything together in a big bowl using a whisk

Dump it into the pie crust

Before it goes in the oven brush melted butter onto the crust and sprinkle it with sugar if you're really feeling crazy

bake at 350° for 1 hour

Halfway through baking, brush more melted butter on the crust. It will be worth it.

Enjoy!

Sean Donner