Jack O' Lantern Pumpkin Pie

What did YOU do with your Halloween pumpkin?

In 2011 there were 2,239 farms with pumpkin patches, covering 6,778 acres in Canada - producing 88 400 tonnes of pumpkins! The estimated farm gate value of these pumpkins is $16.7 million! The most surprising statistic I found was that a whopping 43 310 tonnes of pumpkins and squash were IMPORTED into Canada in 2011! (source)

For the Love of Jack O' Lanterns! How many of these pumpkins do you think were cut into jack-o-lanterns and then thrown away afterwards? I could not find a statistic, but I can only imagine...

I am proud to say, our Jack O' Lanterns were used to make food!
This is how we did it:

You kinda have to plan ahead a little. Don't carve your pumpkin until the night before halloween. Keep it somewhere cool (fridge or cold storage). Don't burn paraffin candles in them and start cooking them asap after Halloween, you don't want rotten puree with chemicals from a cheap candle.

*Very Important - save the seeds!! They are a tasty and healthy snack, and to be honest, my favorite snack at Halloween. Clean the seeds off in a colander, and let them dry. Toss with a bit of oil and roast on a cookie sheet an a 375 deg. C oven until light brown and toasty. Sprinkle with a bit of salt as soon as they get out of the over, I use homemade seasoning salt. Let them cool enough so they don't burn you (I usually can't wait that long haha)  and enjoy!

photo credit

Now you can cut up the pumpkin, and bake in the oven for 2 hrs on 400 deg. C (depending on the pumpkin). Let cool, and peel the skins off. Discard any juices that collect at the bottom of bowl, you want a firm puree, not watery. 

Mash it a bit with a potato masher, then you blend it smooth. I use a hand blender, but a regular one will do the trick. This took a while, and I had to give my blender (arm) a couple of breaks, however the extra effort pays off in a smooth textured puree. You will appreciate it much more than a grainy one when it comes time to eat it.

 
Now you have pumpkin puree that is ready for the freezer. You can use it to add moisture to baking, as ravioli filling, soup, or just scoop some into your homemade spaghetti sauce to boost the veggie content (your kids wont even notice). The first thing I made with my puree is PUMPKIN PIE, which just so happens to be my favorite pie!

 
There is a big difference between a 'pie (sugar) pumpkin' and a 'jack-o-lantern pumpkin', mainly in flavor and texture. Sugar pumpkins are very hard, have low water content, and are way sweeter. Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are stringy, have high water and tastes a lot like acorn squash...

Our two pumpkins yielded over 8 litres of puree for the freezer, plus enough to fill 4 pumpkin pies for a total of $4.00. The pies cost me $1.50 each to make, including the crust and real whipped cream.
 

Jack-O-Lantern Pie Recipe

This should yield 2 pies (I doubled this recipe and made 4 pies, in 9" foil pie pans.)

Crust:
1 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
3.5 cups jack-o-lantern pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 can evaporated milk 
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp flour
3 tbsp pumpkin pie spice*
(1 tbsp = 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 allspice, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)


Instructions:

Make the pie crust first...
~Mix the flour and sugar together in a bowl, you can use 100% white flour, but I prefer a 50% whole wheat crust.
~Add butter - I use frozen butter to ensure my crust stays flaky, and grate it with a cheese grater, rather than trying to incorporate chunks into the flour mixture.

Tip: use frozen butter and a cheese grater

~Once the butter is incorporated, slowly add the ice water and mix it into a large mass. It will be hard and feel crumbly, that's OK - just press it together quickly so the butter doesn't melt, wrap and set in fridge to cool for at least a half hour, longer if you suspect your butter is soft.

~After cooling, separate into half and roll out the crust on a heavily floured board.
~Place pie crust into pie tin (I keep and reuse them), trim the extra dough, and leave in fridge until ready to fill.

Make the filling...
~To use the jack-o-lantern puree for pumpkin pie, you have to cook it in an open pan for a bit to remove more water (or strain overnight in cheesecloth) or you may end up with a soggy or unset pie. I cooked my pumpkin down from 8 cups to 7 cups (remember I doubled the recipe).

Before cooking water out

After cooking water out

~Add sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and flour to a large mixing bowl and combine. You can use all brown sugar for a richer flavor, I just ran out is all.
~Then add eggs, evaporated milk, and puree - then mix thoroughly just until well combined. It WILL be soupy, that is OK, it will firm up when cooked.
~Keep filling in fridge until ready to fill the pie crusts. 

Very soupy

 Make the pie...
~Pre-heat the oven to 425 deg. C.
~Place pie pans on a cookie sheet to stabilize them and catch any drips.
~Fill pie crusts with pumpkin filling

~Bake pies for 15 minutes on 425 deg. C. then turn the temperature down to 350 and bake for an hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
~Cool on rack until room temperature, then place in fridge to chill.
~Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!

Not exactly like traditional pumpkin pie - but absolutely delicious nonetheless :o)