Butternut Squash Pie

For thanksgiving, I needed to do something NEW NEW NEW. Pumpkin pie is passe, and sweet potato pie is actually familiar to my family. I don't remember how, but I found this young lady's blog entry on butternut squash and how it's awesome.

The recipe she links to is in the food section of the NYT, and she made her own adjustments. Just in case the NYT article EVER becomes inaccessible, I am reproducing it without a lick of guilt here.

In case you were wondering, I like cooking because I like EATING, not because cooking is a magical process that often involves slaving. So of course, I used a premade pie shell.

Ingredients:
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups roasted squash purée, packed (see recipe, linked at right)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Candied squash, whipped cream and ginger relish for garnish, optional.

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 300.

5. 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 until filling is set 2/3 in from perimeter and center still jiggles, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream, candied squash and ginger relish if desired. Serve.

Notes: I'm going to use even more pepper the next time I make it. Also, don't worry too much about the temperature. Your oven will vary, and raising the temperature to 350 to get it to finish baking. Oh, and you'll have AMAZING LEFTOVERS if you use a huge butternut squash. The extra squash can be pureed with ginger and sugar - a lot of sugar. You'll have extra filling too! Just bake it with the pie in a glass cooking bowl. Makes for a great "extra" dessert.

Reaction: 110%. Dangerously good - keep away from small children.