Food, Farm, and Sustainability

Date: 27 Sep 2018

By: Reeve Gutsell

Tag: baked goods, Local Food, pie, recipes, students, winter squash

Comment: 1

Butternut squash pie

Harvest time is here!!

We are in full gear here at the farm, sending all kinds of delicious food to our CSA members and the dining hall. I recently put out a call for recipes utilizing our farm products, and here is an amazing one from Assistant Director for Vegetables Jason Dragon. We made two for our LLC dinner last night (12 people) , and they were a big hit. (Sorry, the photo doesn’t quite do them justice.) We suggest cooking the squash well ahead of time to allow it to cool before processing – otherwise you will burn your fingers. Not that we know anything about that.

Prep time: 1.5 hours to cook squash (plus cooling time), 10 – 15 minutes to assemble ingredients.

Bake time: 50 min.

Cool time: 1 hour + chilling if desired.

Ingredients

9 inch pie crust, set aside
1 cup sugar
4-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 lb grated fresh baby ginger from the Hampshire Farm 🙂 Or regular ginger root if ours isn’t available.
1 large butternut squash (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large Hampshire Farm eggs
1/4 cup half and half
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped cream, optional

Directions

Cut the butternut squash in half, coat lightly in olive oil, and roast it face down on an oiled baking pan for about an hour and a half at 350 degrees. Allow to cool, remove skin, and mash thoroughly.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Beat in the ginger, squash, butter, eggs, half and half, and vanilla until smooth. Pour into pie crust.
Cover edges of pie crust loosely with foil to prevent burning. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool pie on a wire rack for 1 hour. Serve room temperature or refrigerate pie until chilled. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

About the Author

Reeve Gutsell is the Food, Farm, and Sustainability Program Coordinator at Hampshire College. She has a Master's degree in Resource Management and Conservation, as well as a long-term interest in the intersection of agriculture, environmental issues, social justice, and food systems. She enjoys the walking around the farm in all types of weather, and almost always finds something beautiful or interesting to explore.