Butternut Squash Pie
Updated April 30, 2024
- Total Time
- 2½ hours, plus chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 1¼cups/183 grams all-purpose flour
- Scant ½ teaspoon salt
- 2tablespoons/23 grams solid vegetable shortening, chilled
- 5tablespoons/71 grams cold unsalted butter, in 5 pieces
- 1large egg, beaten
- 2large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
- 1½teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½cup/100 grams dark brown sugar
- ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½teaspoons ground ginger
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 1½cups/355 grams roasted squash purée (see note)
- 1¼cups/295 milliliters heavy cream
- Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
- ¾cup finely diced peeled butternut squash
- 1½tablespoons finely diced lemon peel (cut from thin lemon slices)
- 1½tablespoons lemon juice
- 3tablespoons sugar
- Scant ½ teaspoon salt
- 2tablespoons finely diced candied ginger
For the Crust
For the Filling
For the Candied Squash and Ginger Relish (optional)
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Preparation
- Step 1
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.
- Step 2
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.
- Step 3
Roll dough into 15-inch round on lightly floured surface, about ⅛ 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.)
- Step 4
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.
- Step 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.
- Step 6
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.
- Step 7
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.
- Step 8
Remove pie from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream and the relish, if desired.
- To make roasted squash purée, heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the stems from 2 butternut squashes (3½ to 4 pounds each), and then cut through them horizontally, where bulb begins. (Reserve bulbs for another use.) Cut squash necks in half lengthwise. Slice into 1-inch sections, coat with 1 tablespoon grapeseed or other neutral oil, and place in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake until tender and beginning to caramelize, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly, remove skin with a paring knife, and force flesh through a food mill. You should have 2⅓ to 3 cups purée. (It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days, or in the freezer up to 2 months. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
Private Notes
Comments
Unnecessarily labor intensive approach to squash puree. Instead: stab squash with knife and roast whole in 400 degree oven until softened through, about 45 min. Scoop out, discard seeds, mash with fork. Honeynuts are sweeter than butternuts.
Hello CPR. I don't own one either, but I do bake my pies in a Pyrex pie plate, or in a large ramekin. The extra thickness helps for even cooking and preventing burning. If the exposed crust looks browned enough, then re-cover the crust with foil. I think your burning may be attributed to not "...turn[ing] the heat down to 300 degrees after 25 minutes." I have made butternut pies for years, because I am allergic to pumpkin, and they always turn out perfect and delicious.
Reduced cream to 3/4 cup and omitted white sugar. Fantastic! Great flavor and texture. Well spiced. Used my own crust recipe, so this review is just for the filling.
Great texture! Two notes: 1. I recommend cutting the squash in half and roasting with some grapeseed or rice bran oil and a small amount of water to cut down on prep time. The top comment about stabbing and roasting the squash whole led to the thicker part of the squash not being fully cooked, so I ended up cutting it in half to easily see how it was coming along. 2. The chutney and whipped cream add a lot. I had extra purée so used that instead of the cubes and while the texture/presentation was less refined, the flavor was tasty.
This has been my go-to squash pie filling recipe for the last several years. So flavorful and creamy! I do use my own crust recipe + don’t chill or pre-bake, and everything always bakes evenly with no overly saturated crust. Im also not fancy about how I bake and puree the squash, and haven’t yet made the relish. These adaptations make the recipe much more approachable and worth it.
This was a little too sweet but otherwise perfect. Maybe cause I used Kabocha squash and only a half a cup of cane sugar.
Advertisement