Pumpkin Pie

On Sunday, I made a pumpkin pie. It was surprisingly fast and easy to make from fresh diced pumpkin using my mom's recipe and the crust was slightly modified from the Naparima Girls Cookbook.



Ingredients
Crust
4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, 4 tbsp cold margarine, 1/3 cup water, 1 tsp lime juice, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 cups flour.

Filling
4 cups diced pumpkin or 2 cups of canned pumpkin, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup evaporated milk, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground clove.

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350*F. 2. Mix the dry ingredients for the crust together and cut in the butter and margarine. Mix it in the flour using a food processor or by hand until the mixture contains pea-sized crumbs.
3. Add the water and lime juice slowly to the mixture until it can be patted into two balls. Do not knead the dough or it will get hard and rubbery. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
4. Cook the pumpkin in a covered pot at low heat. Do not add any water. This will take 5 - 10 minutes. Add the sugar and crush with a potato masher. Simmer slightly uncovered at low heat until it loses at least half of its moisture.
5. Add the spices and milk to the pumpkin and simmer with frequent stirring until it becomes very thick. This will be the texture of the sauce. Taste and add extra milk, sugar and spices to suit. Leave it to cool.
6. Take out one of dough rounds and roll out until it can fit in a 8" - 9" pie dish. Place it in the dish, making sure to let it hang over the sides. Pre-bake in the oven for 2 - 5 minutes. If it comes down the sides, use a spoon to spread it back up.
7. Add the filling.
8. Roll out the other dough round and cut to make 1/2 inch strips. Place some strips vertically and some diagonally to get the pattern above. Bake at 350*F for 1/2 hour or until the crust is hard. Sprinkle confectioner's sugar over the top if desired.

After cooling, the crust should be firm enough that the pie can be easily picked up from the pan and transferred to another plate.