Before you make the pies, you need to cook the pumpkin flesh and then mash it. That takes a lot of time, so allow yourself a day just to make the mashed pumpkin. You cook the pumpkin flesh (the wall of the pumpkin, you discard the insides) in boiling water until it is soft enough to mash. You have to remove the skin, that can be done either before or after cooking. Then you drain the pieces of cooked pumpkin flesh in a colander until they stop dripping. Then you either mash the flesh or blend it to make a paste, which can be frozen for future use. The mashed pumpkin will be more yellow than what is in the cans, because carving pumpkins are not what are commercially used (canned pumpkin is made from a variety of Butternut Squash.) Carving pumpkins are usually called Jack-'O-Lantern pumpkins.
You then use it just like canned pumpkin in your favorite recipe. If it's too wet it makes it take longer to bake, because the filling is more runny than if you used canned pumpkin, so it is important to try to get as much water out as you can.
This is my pumpkin pie recipe, which I have used with pumpkin from the can or from pumpkins I cooked. One large can of pumpkin is about 3 1/2 cups.
Pumpkin Pie (makes 2 10" pies)
1 large can pumpkin (29 oz.)
2 cans (12 oz.) Condensed milk
1 ½ c. sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Ginger
1 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour, until a silver knife inserted in the center comes out clean. For this test, it really requires a silver knife, because cooked filling will stick to stainless steel, but not to silver.
I make my own pie crusts, this is the recipe I use:
For two 9" pies:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. shortening (Crisco)
1/4 c. water
For two 10" pies:
2 ½ c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening (Crisco)
1/3 c. water
Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until particles are the size of peas. Sprinkle with water, a little at a time, mixing with a fork, until all the flour is moistened. Gather dough together with fingers so it cleans the bowl. Press into a ball. Divide dough into single pie sections Turn out onto a lightly floured pastry cloth.
Flatten dough with hand. Roll out the dough with a cloth covered rolling pin to about 1" larger than the inverted pie pan that you will be using. Pick up the dough by loosely rolling it onto the rolling pin. Gently move it into the pie pan, and unroll it off of the rolling pin. Do not stretch it when you ease it down onto the bottom of the pan and against the sides.
Prepare filling and place in pastry-lined pie pan. Trim off overhanging edges with a spatula. Fold top edge of dough under the edge, and make a fluted rim by standing the edge of the dough up and pinching it between the thumb of one hand on the inside of the rim and the thumb and forefinger of the other hand on the outside of the rim. Repeat all around the rim.
Bake as directed. If you like, you can cover the edge of the crust with a 1 ½" strip of aluminum foil while baking. Remove foil about 15" before the end of the baking time so the edge browns slightly.
I usually make 4 pies at a time, then take 2 to the family Thanksgiving, one goes to work, and the last one stays home for our consumption. It takes an evening to make the 4 pies, they can all bake together. I do recommend putting the aluminum foil on the pie crust edges, because of the long baking time at the high temperature.
