When a friend gives you pumpkins...

Make pumpkin pie! A friend brought me a nice, big sugar pumpkin back from her recent romantic getaway to the pumpkin patch (?), and I knew I had to make a pie out of it. I had to try, at least once in my life, to made a pumpkin pie completely from scratch.
The verdict? Well...

The results were mixed. The finished product tasted pretty good, but there were a few bumps along the road to pie-ville.

Here's what I did to make the fresh puree:
-I cut the pumpkin in half, removed the stem, and scooped out the innards (saving the seeds for toasting).
-Then, I put the pumpkin halves on a baking sheet and baked them at 375 F for about an hour. However, this wasn't quite enough time, I realized, so although baking time ultimately will depend on the size of your pumpkin, I would recommend baking the it for longer than an hour- the pumpkin should be really really soft and darken a bit in color.
-I let the pumpkin halves cool a bit, then separated the skin from the flesh (I just scooped it out). I pureed the pumpkin with an immersion blender until it was pretty smooth.
-Then, I lined a strainer with a (sturdy) paper towel, placed this over a bowl, and put the puree in the strainer to drain for a few hours. This is important. You want a pretty thick puree, or the pie won't set right.

I then used the puree to make a pie. I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie, as well as her pie crust. The filling was excellent, but-- I really should have either blended the puree more or put it though a fine mesh strainer, because the texture of the finished pie was not as smooth as I would have liked.

I had plenty of filling left over, so I poured it into ramekins and baked them alongside the pie- voila! Pumpkin pots. Serve with some fresh whipped cream.


So would I do it again? Probably not. While the pie made from fresh pumpkin was certainly quite good, it tasted pretty similar to those pies I've made with canned pumpkin and the whole roasting, pureeing, and draining process was kind of a pain. But, now I know.