Wednesday, October 20, 2010

PUMPKIN PIE WITH GINGERSNAP CRUST

Inspired by a pie we had at the Westwood Tavern, I used a couple of different Bon Appetit recipes to put this together. Especially good with homemade whipped cream. I used the Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Cookie Thins for the crust, and one of the little pumpkins they have – with the pie recipe stuck to the bottom. If you have time, making it from fresh is worth it, I think.

Crust:
9 oz. gingersnap cookies
1 cup pecan pieces
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger (optional)
¼ cup butter, melted

Filling:
1 small pumpkin OR 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup milk
1 ½ tablespoons molasses.

Cook pumpkin: Cut in half vertically and scoop out seeds and strings and discard. Place cut side down on foil lined baking sheet. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 until tender, about 1 ½ hours. Remove from oven and flip halves over to speed up cooling.

Put cookies into food processor, then process into crumbs. May have to loosen with spatula to get even crumbs. Add pecans, brown sugar and ginger and process until nuts are finely ground. Add melted butter and process to blend. Dump into a greased 9” pie plate and press with spatula to cover bottom and up the sides just to the edge evenly. Bake at 350 until set and browned, 10 – 15 minutes, then cool completely.

Once pumpkin is cooled, scoop flesh into a medium bowl and mash or puree (I think an immersion blender works best). In a larger bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, spices and salt. Whisk pumpkin into spice mixture. In the pumpkin bowl, beat the eggs, then whisk in the liquids. Add to pumpkin mixture, whisk to blend well, then pour into cooled crust. Bake at 350 until almost set in the center (it will be slightly jiggly) and puffed a bit around the edges, about 1 hour. This pie came out much darker than a typical pumpkin pie. Cool to room temperature and serve. Keeps well in the refrigerator.

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