No cans were used in the making of this pumpkin pie. It was totally made from scratch. Well, except for the crust.

I don’t love homemade crust enough to make it worth my time. I usually pick up a Whole Foods brand gluten-free one in the freezer section. They are delicious.

So first, I prepared the crust. I thawed it and pre-heated the oven to 400-degrees. After it was thawed, I gave it a few pricks with a fork. If you do this before it’s thawed enough, sometimes it cracks, so watch out.  Then I covered it with foil and baked it for 10 minutes. I lowed the oven temperature to 350-degrees, removed the foil, and baked it for another 8 minutes and removed.

I turned the oven up to 375-degrees.

Next, it was time to prepare the pumpkin. Ever since I had a pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin, I realized that I could never go back to cans. Plus, fresh pumpkin has more fiber and less preservatives. If you can deal with the hassle, it’s totally worth it.

Pretty big for a pie pumpkin, actually.

With a serrated knife, I cut a circle around the stem, yanked it out, and tossed it into the trash.

With the same serrated knife, I cut it in half, revealing its innards.

With a sturdy spoon, I scraped out all the seeds and strings.

Now time for steaming!  There are many ways to steam a pumpkin. However, I chose the microwave sheerly for time’s sake. I was taking this pumpkin to a party, so I needed to get it done.

I cut the pumpkin in half again—turning it into fourths. This made it easier to fit into a bowl. In a microwavable safe bowl, I added about an inch of water. I threw in two slices of pumpkin, covered the bowl with a plate (could also use Saran wrap), and microwaved it for 10 minutes. I repeated with the other half. You can microwave it altogether, we just didn’t have a bowl big enough to fit it all AND fit it into the microwave.

After microwaving, it was super hot. I had to exercise my patience and let it cool. After the pumpkin is steamed, it’s easy to scrape out the flesh or simply peel off the peel. If it’s not easy, then it needs to be steamed for a couple more minutes. I scooped out the good stuff and pureed it in a blender until smooth.

Freshly pureed.

For the filling recipe, I used:

- 2 cups of pumpkin puree
- 18 packets of Stevia (I know that sounds crazy, but that was the conversion from 3/4 cup of sugar. I swear. I looked it up.)
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
- pinch salt
- 1 lb. silk tofu (I used Nasoya)

With a whisk, I folded the tofu into the pureed pumpkin. I added the spices. I whipped by hand with a whisk until blended and smooth. You could also use an electric mixer—might be easier.  I dumped it into the pie crust, and it was very full.

I used a spatula to smooth it out.

Then I baked it for 30 minutes. It made our whole house smell amazing and tasted even better!  Friends noted that the texture was a bit different because of the tofu, but not in a bad way.  And everyone agreed that it had a great flavor.