Thanksgiving Pie (Pie Club Edition)

I admit to having struggled to select a pie this week. I went through scores of online recipes in the hope of finding just the right one. It seemed that every one that appeared promising ended up being rejected for one reason or another. In the end, I did not select a pie at all. The pie selected me.

With the difficulties that I was having picking a pie and the treacherous layer of ice on the roads on Sunday, I decided to walk around the kitchen in search of inspiration -- and a pie that could be made from ingredients already in-house. I did hope to keep to a holiday theme since I knew that this pie would be going to work for consumption and it is, of course, Thanksgiving week. Lo and behold... inspiration in gourd form. A butternut squash sitting on the counter was begging to be utilized. There has to be a recipe out there for butternut squash pie, I thought. There was. Inspired by several, I made up my own. The result was a pastry crust filled and baked as follows:

Ingredients

4 cups butternut squash - peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ginger (I used fresh grated)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 large eggs

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup milk

There are several "combo" ingredients that could easily be replaced by a single ingredient. I used what was on hand. For example, the cream and milk could instead be 1/2 cup whole milk, or half-and-half.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Steam squash in a steamer basket and sauce pan until tender (approx. 12 minutes).
3. While the squash is steaming, combine the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl
4. Move the steamed squash to a food processor and process for about 1 minute, until smooth.
5. Whisk the eggs together, slowly incorporating about 1/2 cup of the warm squash puree.
6. Add the egg mixture back to the food processor, along with the dry ingredients, again processing for about 1 minute until completely combined
7. Pour the filling into an unbaked pastry crust
8. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center is just set.
9. Cool on wire rack for 2 hour, then refrigerate to cool completely.
10. Garnish with cinnamon-spiked whipped cream

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The end result was a tastier, richer and smoother version of a standard pumpkin pie. I can not think of a reason that I would make a pumpkin pie again. This was much, much better.

The Saturday is our family get together for Thanksgiving. The plan is two pies for the holiday and now that pie club at work is back in full swing, I am probably required to show up on Monday with one too. A big week and big opportunity to add to the list here. I have a pie in mind for Saturday that I am particularly excited about. I hope it lives up to my internal hype.