Butternut Squash Pie

In May I was at a Master Gardener plant sale where I purchased a small start labeled 'Spaghetti Squash'.  Certainly most people will crinkle up their noses and shudder when you put those two words together, but I had had a delicious curried spaghetti squash soup a few months earlier, and I was willing to try to recreate it and expand my gardening horizons doing so.  

So I planted the start.  I gave it a spot with what I thought was a fair amount of room. And it grew. And grew.  And grew even more.  It was a monster.  It devoured a hydrangea plant. It ran through my garlic. It covered up an entire cucumber plant. It mixed itself in with our potatoes. It trellised itself on our back fence and then kept going right into our neighbors yard.  It was truly a beast. Scott would look at it, and shake his head at it (and me) disapprovingly, and declare that we would never, ever do something like that again. 
As luck would have it, our Spaghetti Squash was mislabeled.  It is actually Butternut Squash, and it is delicious.  We grew THIRTEEN squash off the one plant, ranging in size from average to downright humongous.  I've given half to our neighbors and have been experimenting with different recipes including this one for Butternut Squash Pie.  I like to alter recipes so I have found a few good looking recipes for Butternut Squash Pie, that I have combined.  It turned out pretty well last time.  It was a lot like pumpkin pie, only better because I grew it!  I have made another minor alteration or two, and am going to try it this way for our Thanksgiving dinner: 


Ingredients:

9" pie crust - unbaked
1 1/2 cups cooked & pureed squash
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

To cook the squash, heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove stem, cut squash in half and scoop out seeds (see below for seed saving). Lay flat side down on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until squash is soft. Allow to cool, then remove skin and puree.  You will probably have extra squash which can be frozen to make another pie or soup later on.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar into the squash, add the eggs, evaporated milk, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla.  Pour into pie shell and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until set.

SEEDS:  Saving squash seeds is easy!  Just pick off any flesh, give 'em a good rinse, then lay out on a paper towel to dry.