New England Squash Pie Recipes

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.

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.

PUMPKIN OR SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Cut up the pumpkin or squash, remove seeds, and pare the outside rind. Simmer in a covered saucepan in a small amount of water until tender. Drain water and discard.
• While pumpkin or squash cooks, prepare piecrust.
• Force pumpkin through a sieve or use a food mill. Measure 2 cups puree for each pie. Remainder may be frozen or dried for future use.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Beat eggs and add milk. When blended, add pumpkin, molasses, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon zest, and stir well.
• Roll out piecrust in a 10-inch round circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate, and flute edges as desired.
• Pour into the lined pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until set. Cool before serving.
• Measure and set aside 1/4 cup flour and 1 tablespoon butter. Rub the remaining butter into the flour. Stir in cold water with a fork.
• Roll dough out on well-floured board with a floured rolling pin, dot with 1/2 tablespoon reserved butter, and sprinkle 2 teaspoons reserved flour. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll. Flour lightly and roll to a 1/4-inch thickness.
• Repeat the butter and flour addition procedure, using up all butter and flour. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place until needed.

NUTTY SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. In large bowl, mix butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir in all remaining Nut Cookie Crust ingredients just until crumbly. Press crust mixture on bottom and side of ungreased deep-dish pie plate, 9x1 1/2 inches, or regular pie plate, 9x1 1/4 inches, building up 1/2-inch edge (high edge is necessary to prevent filling from running over).
• In large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Stir in all remaining Squash Filling ingredients except milk until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Pour into crust. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
• Bake pie 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake 45 to 55 minutes longer or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack, about 2 hours. Store covered in refrigerator.

NEW ENGLAND BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Steps:

• Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Place cut side down in a microwave-safe dish; add 1/2 in. of water. Cover and microwave on high for 15-20 minutes or until very tender; drain. , When cool enough to handle, scoop out pulp and mash. Stir in the butter, syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg.

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.

GRANDMA DARCY'S SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Press pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate.
• Beat evaporated milk, squash, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth; pour into pie crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until pie is set, about 30 minutes more.

SAVORY BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Put oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat if onions are browning too quickly.
• Transfer onions to a large bowl. Add squash cubes, kale, sage, thyme and garlic. Season with salt and red-pepper flakes, and toss well to coat.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the puff pastry rounds to 12 inches in diameter (or roll and trim pastry rectangles to achieve two 12-inch rounds). Line a 10-inch pie pan or other shallow round baking dish with one 12-inch round of pastry. Add squash filling, piling it high. Sprinkle with provolone and pecorino. Lay the remaining pastry round over filling and crimp edges to seal. Paint the top of pie with beaten egg.
• Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips. Transfer to oven, and bake for about 1 hour, until pastry is nicely browned and squash is soft when probed with a paring knife. (Start checking at the half-hour mark and the 45-minute mark to make sure the pastry isn't browning too quickly. Tent with foil, if so.) Allow to rest at least 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into large wedges and serving.

HUBBARD SQUASH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Unroll crust into a 9-in. pie plate; flute edge. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, squash, milk, sugar, molasses, cornstarch and salt. Pour into the crust; sprinkle with nutmeg., Bake pie on a lower oven rack 10 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 325°; bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack; serve or refrigerate within 2 hours. If desired, top with sweetened whipped cream and additional ground nutmeg.