New England Squash Pie With Pecan Topping Recipes

NEW ENGLAND SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Warm the squash in a microwave oven or in a pot on top of the stove. Place it in a blender or mixing bowl with the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and spices and whirl, or whisk by hand, until smooth.
• Place the pie shell on a baking tray and pour the filling into it. (Purchased pie crusts vary in depth, so if you have too much filling for your crust, put the extra in a custard cup or ramekin and follow the directions in the note below.)
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the the filling is set but there is still a little jiggle in the center. Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
• Good frozen pie shells, including wheat-free ones, are available in natural foods stores and large supermarkets.
• For custard instead of pie, bake the filling in unbuttered custard cups set in a hot water bath. Depending on the size of your cups, this recipe will make 4 to 8 custards. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until just set. Cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH CUSTARD PIE WITH A PECAN CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season the squash with olive oil and salt. Place on a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Remove and cool completely. Place the pie shell in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pie crust from the oven and cool. Peel away the skin and remove the center seeds of the roasted butternut squash. Place the squash in a large mixing bowl. Mash the squash until smooth. Add the cane syrup, the sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the eggs and egg yolks and mix well. Stir in the milk and whisk well. Pour into the pie shell. Cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 25 minutes, until the center is slightly firm. Remove and cool on a wire rack. The pie will still continue to cook while cooling. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. Slice into individual servings and place on serving plates. Garnish with a drizzle of Caramel sauce and a dollop of Spiced Cream.

NEW ENGLAND SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• 1. Cook fresh or frozen squash. Put it through a food mill to make it smooth. Put a coffee filter into a sieve and put the squash in it. Let it drain until no liquid comes out.
• 2. Measure 2 cups of squash and add sugar and spices. Mix well. Add the eggs and mix. Using a whisk, blend in the milk. (If you want a richer filling, substitute cream for some of the milk. For the diet conscious, use skim milk.)
• 3. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 375 and continue baking for 45 minutes or until a shape knife inserted into the filling comes out clean.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Combine flour and salt in food processor bowl, and pulse. Remove lid, scatter vegetable shortening and butter over surface, and pulse 5 or 6 times.
• Combine beaten egg and 3 tablespoons ice water. Pulse liquid into dry ingredients, continuing until mixture is evenly moist and dough looks curdy, about 10 seconds. Turn onto work surface, and press firmly into disk, adding drops of water if dough feels dry. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
• Roll dough into 15-inch round on lightly floured surface, about 1/8 inch thick, and fit into shallow 9-inch pie pan. Trim and crimp edges, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, place large pizza stone on lowest rack in oven, and heat at 425 degrees for 1 hour. (If you don't have a pizza stone, you can go without. It can help prevent a soggy bottom crust.)
• Line chilled pie pan with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on pizza stone for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until crust dries out and crimped edges begin to color, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower oven heat to 300 degrees.
• While crust bakes, prepare filling: Combine eggs, vanilla, sugars, salt and spices in food processor, and process until smooth. Add squash purée, and process until smooth. With machine running, pour in heavy cream, and process to combine.
• Scrape filling into hot prebaked shell, and bake on pizza stone for 20 minutes. Turn the oven up to 325 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes until filling is set two-thirds of the way in from the perimeter and the center still jiggles, about 40 to 45 minutes total (custard will continue to cook after pie is removed from oven). Tent edges loosely with foil if browning too quickly.
• Meanwhile, prepare the candied squash and ginger relish, if using: Combine squash, lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar and salt in small bowl, and stir well. Macerate 30 minutes. Turn into small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until tender and liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add ginger and mix well.
• Remove pie from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream and the relish, if desired.

SQUASH CASSEROLE WITH CRUNCHY PECAN TOPPING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Roast the squash cut side up on a baking sheet in preheated oven until the flesh is soft, about 50 minutes. Remove squash from oven and cool, then scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl, or bowl of a food processor.
• Meanwhile, prepare the topping by mixing 2 1/2 tablespoons butter in a bowl with the brown sugar and flour until crumbly. Stir in the pecans. Set aside until needed.
• Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 11x7 inch baking dish.
• Beat or process the squash until smooth. Add the eggs, white sugar, half and half, vanilla, salt, and 2 1/2 tablespoons butter; process until well blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar topping mixture over the squash.
• Bake squash in preheated oven until topping is lightly brown, about 40 minutes.

SPICED KABOCHA SQUASH PIE WITH PUMPKIN-SEED CRUMBLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F with 1 rack on the bottom rung and 1 rack in the center of oven. Place 1 rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack to preheat.
• Make the pie dough:
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse 1 1/4 cups flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and shortening and pulse until coarse, pea-sized crumbs form, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add 2 tablespoons ice water and process until the dough just holds together, about 30 seconds. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers: If it is very crumbly, add pulse in more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time (2 tablespoons maximum). Do not over process.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push together into a rough ball. Knead a few times to combine, then flatten into a disc with smooth edges (no cracks), cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Roast the squash:
• Meanwhile, cut the squash in half horizontally. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the squash, cut-side down, on a rimmed baking sheet and add a splash of water to the pan. Bake in center of oven until the squash flesh is easily pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool. Reduce the oven to 375°F.
• Roll out the dough:
• Meanwhile, roll out the dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin then unfurl it into the 9-inch pie pan. Lightly press it into the pan. Leave 1 inch of dough hanging over the edge, trimming any excess dough. Tuck the dough under itself, then crimp the edge as desired. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• Make the crumble topping:
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder to combine. Add the butter and massage with your fingertips until the mixture becomes clumpy and moist. Add the pumpkin seeds and mix until incorporated. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• Fill the pie and bake:
• When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out enough flesh to measure 2 1/4 cups and place in a blender. (Discard the skins and reserve extra squash flesh for another use.) Add cream, sugar, molasses, eggs, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the blender. Puree until filling is smooth and creamy.
• Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell (do not overfill) and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with the crumble mixture. Place on preheated rimmed baking sheet on bottom rung of oven. After 30 minutes, rotate baking sheet and move to center rung of oven. Bake until the filling is set and the crumble topping is golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes more. (Cover the crust edge with foil or a pie shield if it starts to brown too much.) Transfer pie to a wire rack and cool completely, about 3 hours. Pie will keep up to 2 days, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature.

PECAN PIE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry. Use the pastry to line a 23cm tart tin, keeping any off-cuts in case you need to fill any cracks after blind-baking. Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork and chill for 30 mins, or until firm.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line the pastry case with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and bake for 15-20 mins until the sides are set. Remove the beans and parchment and return the tin to the oven for 5-10 mins until the pastry is golden and the base is set. Leave to cool.
• Increase oven to 200C/190C fan/gas 6. Use an electric whisk to beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Keep the beaters going and pour in both of the syrups. Gradually add the eggs, ¼ tsp salt and the vanilla, then whisk until combined. Stir through the pecans, then pour the mixture into the tart case. Bake for 10 mins. Turn heat down to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and continue baking for 30-35 mins (the pie should be golden brown and the filling should wobble a little in the centre when shaken). Leave to cool in the tin. You'll probably need to run a knife around the tin to lift out the pie. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a small saucepan, cover squash cubes with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash. Measure out 2 cups of mashed squash and refrigerate remaining leftover amount.
• Mix sugar, salt, and spices. Blend in milk, squash, eggs, and butter or margarine. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.
• Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 40 minutes, or until a knife blade inserted in the center comes out clean.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Pierce the squash with a knife in several places, and place in a baking dish in a 350 degree oven.
• Bake until the squash is tender and easily pierced with a knife (about 1 hour) ALLOW TO COOL COMPLETELY.
• Cut the squash in half, and remove the seeds.
• Scoop out about 2 cups of the pulp and place in your blender or food processor.
• Add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Pour into prepared pie crust.
• Bake 45-50 minutes or until the center is nearly set, and the pie is starting to slightly pull away from the edges of the pan.
• Cool on a wire rack.