Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• ¼ cup ice-cold water
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 4–5 cups dried beans or pie weights, for blind baking

For the filling:

• 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¾ cups pure pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Add the flour and salt to your food processor and pulse once or twice to combine. Add in the butter and pulse 4 to 6 times or until the pieces of butter are about the size of a pea.
2. In a small bowl, combine the water and vinegar and pour evenly over the flour mixture. Quickly pulse a few times until the mixture begins climbing up the sides of the food processor then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press and knead the dough a couple times to bring it together then shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and place in the fridge to rest for 2 hours or up to two days.
3. Set the chilled dough on the counter for about 5 minutes to make rolling easier. Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured work surface then scatter with a bit more flour and roll it out into a ¼-inch thick circle that is about 4 inches bigger than the top of your pie plate, giving the dough a quarter turn every few rolls to help maintain a circle and avoid shrinkage in the oven.
4. Roll the pastry onto your rolling pin and drape into the pie plate. Gently press the pastry into the pie plate using the back of your knuckles and, if needed, trim the pie dough so that it hangs about 1-inch over the edge of the plate. Tuck the overhang underneath itself to create a slightly thicker crust and press or pinch together to crimp the edge. Cover and transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
5. When ready to bake, heat your oven to 400ºF.
6. Retrieve the pie shell from the fridge and poke the bottom of the crust about a dozen times with a fork. Crumple up a large piece of parchment paper, press it into the shell, and fill with the dry beans or pie weights. You want the beans or weights to come all the way up to the top of the pie shell so that they help hold up the sides of the pastry while it bakes.
7. Place the pie shell onto a rimmed baking pan and bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and weights and return the pie shell to the oven for 5 minutes. Set aside while you make the filling.
8. For the filling, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the pumpkin puree, eggs, milk, and vanilla and whisk to combine.
9. Pour the filling into the prebaked pie crust and bake in your 400ºF oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350ºF for 40 to 45 minutes or until just set but still wobbly in the centre. If the edges of the crust start to brown too quickly while baking, loosely cover with a ring of aluminum foil.
10. Set the pie aside to cool completely then slice and serve with whipped cream.

Recipe Note: If making pie dough from scratch is not in your wheelhouse today, feel free to use a frozen deep dish pie shell. Blind or par bake the pie shell according to the package directions then fill and bake as directed above.