Can’t deny this. But it’s still pumpkin pie’s great advantage: calories - way fewer of them!
Think of most other pies - an apple pie or a pecan pie or whatever. Most of the pie filling isn’t apples or pecans; it’s that sugary goop that the apples/pecans/whatever swim in. With a pumpkin pie, the filling is pumpkin, plus the stuff you add to it to make it taste good.
So let’s look at that Libby’s recipe. A pie contains 1 can of pumpkin (175 cal.), 3/4 cup of sugar (580 cal.), 2 eggs (160 cal.), a can of evaporated milk (300 cal. for 2%), and the rest is just spices. So 1215 calories for the entire filling. Then add 880 calories for the crust if you use a pastry crust, or 1300 calories if you use a graham cracker crust like I do. So you’re at 2095 or 2515 calories per pie, depending on how you do it. (Getting ‘how big is a slice’ out of the equation.)
But you know that sugary goop is calorie-dense. For instance, Costco’s apple pie has 5,160 calories.
And that’s why I’m a complete fruit-pie snob. I love fruit pie. So long as I made the pie. My apple pie is made in a larger pie-shell than my pumpkin pie, and is heaped way higher, so it has at least twice the volume of my pumpkin pie. The filling contains apples, 2/3 cup brown sugar, about 2 Tbsp of butter, and spices. Maybe some lemon juice if the apples lack acidity (but I rarely need that.) Yeah, I can’t stand a pie full of sugary goop.
(No, I don’t eat “shoo fly” or even pecan pie, which seem to be pies that are ABOUT the sugary goop.)
Yeah, I prefer the texture of a pie made from a roasted, puréed pumpkin. Taste varies from pie to pie, however, as there is variation from pumpkin to pumpkin.
OK, zucchini and yellow summer squash being the same species, that surprises me not at all. But zucchini and pumpkin being the same!? I never would have guessed.
The recipe I use to make pumpkin pie at work is a close adaptation of the Libby’s recipe. Cinnamon, cloves and ginger, that’s it. I had to make nineteen special order pies for this holiday, so I guess people like it.
Yeah, I disagree with those saying pumpkin itself doesn’t have a lot of flavor. I find pumpkin and the related squashes to have a very distinct, vegetal flavor to it, when you don’t just dump in tons of pumpkin pie spices in it. That’s partly why pumpkin (and sweet potato) pie is among my favorite pies : it doesn’t have the cloying sweetness of most pies, and it’s almost more like a savory pie. I bet if you went in a slightly different direction, you could make a decent quiche-like full-on savory pie using pumpkin pie as a blueprint (and I’m not going to google it now, but I bet somebody already has, because whenever I have a recipe idea I think it’s intriguing, about 532 people have beaten me to it!)
But, like I said above, I like my pumpkin pie on the more gently spiced side, so the pumpkin flavor comes through.
My grandmother always made her ‘pumpkin’ pies out of the Hubbard squash she grew in her garden. Not quite as pretty as when made with an orange squash (hers were yellowish), but man those were good. I’ve made ‘pumpkin’ pies with butternut squash and found it quite acceptable, too.
Butternut squash is the usual one I would use when living abroad in lieu of pumpkin. They taste pretty darned similar. I use them interchangeably with pumpkins in recipes. I’ve also made pumpkin pie with pie pumpkins and acorn squash as well. They all are in the same ballpark of flavor to me. I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference between pumpkin, butternut squash, and acorn squash pies if you put one of each in front of me. My memory is that perhaps butternut squash made the best pumpkin pie of all three, but I wouldn’t bet on it. That said, at least this New York times columnist thinks so, too.
But, in the end, I still prefer Libby’s to all three.
I actually did look around later, and “savory pumpkin pie” did return a number of hits. Here’s one from the NYTimes flavored with onions and gruyere, with a little bit of nutmeg. That’s pretty much where my mind was going with the idea. Pillsbury goes the sage, garlic powder, and a bit of nutmeg route. This one gets a bit more involved, going Jerusalem artichoke, feta, rosemary, onion, garlic, and celery.
I’ll have to try one of these one day. I think I’d start simple with the onions & cheese.
I started with the basic recipe you’ll find on a can, but I added a little allspice, extra sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. My father–who is vocally opposed to cloves–said it was the best pumpkin pie he’d ever had.
(I also made vanilla-almond whipped cream to go on it.)
I usually use the Libby recipe, but with fresh pumpkin (or butternut squash, which is more flavorful) that I puree myself. However, I’m intrigued by a recipe that uses condensed milk. I might have to try that.
There is a heritage type of squash called a banana squash. The name is a puzzlement, it isn’t the color of bananas, and certainly doesn’t taste like it.
What it is, is absolutely humongous. I got one from my cousin on the farm, and it weighed at least 25 pounds and was over two feet long and around 8 or 9 inches acoss.
I cooked and pureed one and used it for pies and quick breads, and it handled just the same as orange pumpkin.
Our family has always amped up the spice in our pumpkin pies, as well as adding a good dollop of dark molasses to the recipe. It makes for a dark colored pie, but still very tasty. I just know when I see a pale, commercial pie that it isn’t going to satisfy me at all.
I’d experiment with molasses, as I like the taste. I’d have to figure out how to adjust, say, the other liquids, like the milk, since a liquid sugar would alter the consistency of the filling.
I can’t see the NYT recipe since it’s paywalled, but from what you say here it sounds similar to the sweet potato soufflé I make (it uses gruyere, shallots, garlic and thyme). Worth a try.
Libby’s canned pumpkin is made from its own variety, Dickinson. They are big and oblate and more the color of Butternut squash than a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, but per the USDA they are pumpkins for the purpose of canning. More homey sources such as weblogs recommend the formidable Blue Hubbard squash for pumpkin pie. Me, if it’s orange and makes a tasty “pumpkin” pie, I’ll happily accept whatever Curcubita makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Both of those sound similar to the Yummly recipe I made this Thanksgiving, except instead of pies they were stuffed and baked pumpkins. I measured, cut, and bagged the onions, leeks, bread, and butter the day before to save time because the pumpkins needed an hour and a half to cook. They came out great.
2 small sugar pie pumpkins, about 2 lbs each
6 oz crustless day-old bread, torn into pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced and rinsed of grit
kosher salt
2/3 cup half-and-half
4 oz gruyère or emmenthaler cheese, cut into small cubes
pinch grated nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice tops off pumpkins about 2 inches below the stems; you want a wider opening than for a jack-o-lantern. With as spoon, scrape strings and seeds from underside of the lid and inside of the pumpkin. (If you want to roast seeds, see note below.) Put the bread in a mixing bowl.
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the onion, leek, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until very soft and barely golden, about 8 minutes. Scrape into the bowl with the bread. Add the half-and-half, cheese, nutmeg, and several grindings of pepper; stir well. Divide bread mixture between pumpkins (don’t pack it in; the filling expands as it bakes). Put pumpkin lids back on.
Place pumpkins in a baking pan which just fits them side by side (I use a disposable foil pan because the pumpkins leave a sticky residue and it’s easier to throw away than scrub away; just recycle the foil pan). Bake for 90 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is soft enough to pierce easily with a knife and the outside of pumpkin is slightly browned but not collapsing. Check after about an hour and at that time, set the lids next to the pumpkins in the pan and continue to bake until done and tops of filling browns slightly. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.[/spoiler]