Roasted Pumpkin Pie with an Easy No-Roll Pie Crust

Dear Les Voyageurs & Others who were at The Cabin tonight,

As promised, here is the pumpkin pie recipe… posted as SOON as possible.  I made this earlier today using some pumpkin puree I had frozen a few days earlier.  However, I had two different varieties of pumpkin puree - which I think added a little something to the pie.  One was a small (early autumn) Sugar Treat pumpkin I bought at the farmers market in the middle on September and made into a puree and froze.  The other was from a Small Sugar pumpkin I bought at Trader Joe's on Monday (and once again, made into a puree and froze).  While I recipe I used called for the pie to be baked for 55 minutes, I had to bake it for about 25 minutes longer (I'm starting to think it's because of my shoddy student housing kitchen, not the recipes).  But what really matters is that the center of the pie is "firm" when you take it out of the oven.  ALSO - I used a no-roll pie crust.  It is literally as easy as just mashing it into the pie pan.  So please, never ever buy a pie crust from the store again.  Now, little LV's/other people at dinner tonight, go and make this pie ASAP and impress your mother when you can make it for Thanksgiving dinner!

Love,

Kat

No-Roll Pie Crust

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

makes 1 9-inch pie crust

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoon) frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used almond oil)
• 1 Tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons cold milk

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.  Whisk together.  
2. Add frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater and tablespoon of cream cheese.  With your fingers, work the cream cheese and butter into the flour mixture, breaking the butter and cream cheese up until they're in well incorporated into the flour.  I like to think that the texture was comparable to "wet sand."
3. Combine the milk and oil.  Whisk together.  Add all at once to the flour and butter mixture.  With a fork, begin to combine the ingredients, making sure that all of the flour mixture is introduced to the liquid.  The mixture will (and should) be shaggy; just dump the dough into a clean 9-inch pie plate.  With your fingers,  press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides.  Try to get the dough as even as possible.
4. Place the prepared crust in the freezer while you preheat the oven and prepare your filling.  DONE!  That easy!

Roasted Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2-1 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• A dash or so of apple pie spice
• A splash or so of vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and whisk until combined.
2. Pour into pie crust
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until filling is firm, and a knife, when inserted in the middle of the pie is clean when removed.