Homemade Pumpkin Pie from a regular Pumpkin

You're probably wondering, "Why?"

We had an extra pumpkin this year.  I bought three pumpkins and only two were carved.  The leftover pumpkin was large, and I thought, "Why not?"  I would hate to see it go to waste.  

I found a recipe on how to cook a regular carving pumpkin HERE and thought I would give it a try.  I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin...OK, let's just say, I love pumpkin. 

I think the most time consuming part was removing the seeds and scraping the pumpkin.  Well, it wasn't that bad.  I cut the pumpkin open, which made it easier to remove the seeds.  Waiting for the pumpkin to cook also took awhile.  I would recommend having another chore to do while waiting for the pumpkin to cook.

Click on the link to get instructions on how to cook down your pumpkin.

I decided to clean out my pumpkin and chop it into pieces and pop it into some boiling water.  This method took awhile but it allowed me some time to let the cooked pieces cool a bit before removing the skin so I didn't burn my fingers off.   Once the outer skin was off I put it in a strainer (colander?) and pressed out some of the water.  From there I took the cooked pumpkin and put it in the food processor.   After awhile, I realized that this might be an all day project.  I mean, if you are going to go through all of the trouble to cook down a pumpkin, you have to make pumpkin pie.  Looking at all of the cooked pumpkin I realized I would have to make at least two pumpkin pies and still have enough pumpkin left over to make two more pies.

Here is the Pumpkin Pie recipe:

1 cup sugar

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

3 cups cooked pumpkin

1 12oz can evaporated milk

Mix together and pour into pie crust. (I make a home made pie crust)

Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F.

Bake an additional 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees F.

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I do have to say that this was an all day project.  It really makes me appreciate canned pumpkin..and the fact that I don't live in the 1800's and have to stand around the stove all day making lunch/dinner. Although it was time consuming, I have to admit that it was delicious!  I made two pies and there was one and a quarter pies left after a few hours.  I think it was a hit!  Plus, I have two bags of extra pumpkin in the freezer so I can make two more pies!

Need a crust recipe for your pumpkin pie?  Check out this Pie Crust recipe and this Graham Cracker Crust recipe.

Have you ever cooked a pumpkin down and made pumpkin pie?