Cheater Pumpkin-Eater Pie

If you are not a pastry person (I’m not!), go ahead: buy the frozen crust. This is my favourite pie, so I try to figure out ways to stretch Thanksgiving and Halloween to enjoy it a few more times.

Serves 6 to 8

• 1 store-bought frozen deep-dish pie shell (e.g. Tenderflake)

• 2 eggs, separated

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 cup canned pumpkin purée

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 tsp butter melted

Preheat oven to 400F. Thaw pie shell at room temperature for 10-15 min.

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until light. Stir in sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Stir in pumpkin, milk and butter.

In a separate bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into pumpkin mixture until just incorporated. Don’t over-mic

Place pie shell on a baking sheet and spread filling in shell.

Bake until crust lightly browns, about 25 min. Turn oven down to 350F and bake another 25 to 30 min or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a splash of maple syrup.

Cook’s notes:

This pie is rich, so you can stretch it to feed 8 people - especially after a turkey dinner!

This recipe doubles really well. I buy a package of 2 pie shells, and since the recipe asks for less than half a 28oz can of pumpkin, I double it, bake both pies and freeze one.

Even after doubling the recipe, you may be left with a little bit of leftover pumpkin. Use it in a pumpkin soup or add it to a carrot soup.