Old-Fashioned Cushaw Pie

  5.0 – 3 reviews  • Squash

I discovered an unidentified plant growing in my front garden in the early summer. I let it grow since I thought it might be a squash vine and found cushaws! This variety of squash is very green and sweet like pumpkin; it makes a delicious pie filling!

Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 55 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Servings: 16
Yield: 2 10-inch pies

Ingredients

  1. 1 large cushaw squash – peeled, seeded, and chopped
  2. 3 cups heavy whipping cream
  3. 1 ½ cups clover honey
  4. 4 eggs
  5. ¼ cup molasses
  6. 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  7. 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  8. 2 teaspoons salt, divided
  9. ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  10. ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  11. 2 cups hard white flour, or more as needed
  12. 12 ⅔ tablespoons butter, softened
  13. 7 tablespoons ice-cold water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add squash, cover, and steam until very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Blend squash in a blender until smooth. Pour 6 cups of squash puree into a large mixing bowl. Reserve any extra squash puree for a separate use.
  4. Add cream, honey, eggs, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, 1 teaspoon salt, allspice, and nutmeg into the mixing bowl with squash puree; whisk until smooth. Cover and set aside.
  5. Mix flour and 1 teaspoon salt together in a bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture; add water and mix well. Add more flour to dough if it is too wet. Cut dough in half and roll onto a floured work surface; form into two 10-inch circles. Press dough into two 10-inch pie pans; pour squash filling into each.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
  7. This recipe usually makes more than enough pie filling. I usually pour the extra filling into a glass casserole dish with a graham cracker crust and bake it along with the pies.
  8. These pies are excellent served with whipped cream dusted with nutmeg.
  9. If there is extra cushaw, it can be saved and frozen for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 460 kcal
Carbohydrate 54 g
Cholesterol 132 mg
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 6 g
Saturated Fat 17 g
Sodium 398 mg
Sugars 32 g
Fat 27 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Scott Quinn
This has replaced the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie in our house and is so much better. I find the traditional pumpkin pie too dense and sweet. To be fair if you look at a can of pumpkin, it’s actually more squash anyway. This is so much lighter in texture and not overly sweet. To put the portions in perspective, 1/2 this recipe with 3 cups of cushaw purée and you get 2 pies. I took a couple of tips from another cushaw pie recipe which said to roast the cushaw for an hour in a 350 oven and then peel off the skin. Either way, cushaw holds a lot of liquid so cook the day ahead and put in a colander over a catch bowl to drain the water. Even with this I still squeezed excess water out with a dish towel. I recommend this so the pie isn’t too watery. I did add a bit of white sugar (just a couple of tablespoons) for a bit more sweetness but also a bit of lemon extract too. Added a dollop of fresh whip cream when served.
Shelly May
I made a grape-nuts crust with about 1.5 cups of cereal and milk. Forms well after the milk gets soaked in. I ended up with 4 pies instead of 2 so I suggest you lower the servings to adjust. One cushaw was close to 12 cups so I vacuum sealed the rest to use later.
Kari Meyer
I made my first cushaw pie today. This recipe called for 2 pies but it ended up making 5. Not sure why so many but they are good. I’m taking some to a picnic tomorrow and taking the rest to a local soup kitchen. I’m sure they will enjoy it. Thank you for this healthy, tasty pie recipe.

 

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