Of course, once cooked, a big squash can provide more than a week's worth of meals - muffins, soups, and just mashed with a bit of butter on top. But one of my favorite ways, and especially for Thanksgiving, to eat pink banana squash is as pie. Pies made with pumpkin can have a bit of a greenish cast to them. But a pink banana pie turns out even tastier, with a beautiful brown color through and through.
This year, for the first time in at least 15 years, I get to be a guest at a Thanksgiving dinner instead of the cook. I'd only need to prepare an appetizer (jalapeno pepper jelly poured over a block of cream cheese, served with whole wheat crackers) and a dessert. Of course, my dessert offering had to be pink banana squash pie. I wanted to make two pies, but I won't be in my own kitchen the next few days, to be able to deal with the extra squash pulp. So I picked one my smaller pink banana squash, small enough to fit in the dish drainer, to prepare.
Pink Banana Squash Pie (one 9" pie)
Line a 9" pin tin with 1 prepared pie crust (your favorite recipe, or you can use a half-recipe of mine - flute the edge of the crust up above the edge of the pie tin. This recipe overfills a 9" pan by a bit, and it will puff up while cooking, then sink down as it cools)
2 cups cooked mashed squash
1 12 oz. can evaporated skim milk (or can use heavy cream, for a more decadent version)
2 eggs
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses or real maple syrup
⅛ teaspoon allspice
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
(or can just substitute 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for all the spices)
Blend all ingredients in a blender (in batches if necessary) or with a hand-held mixer. Pour into prepared raw crust and very carefully (it will be very full) transfer to 425F preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for another 45 minutes, or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.
This is the first time I heard about Pink Banana squash. It is really huge.
ReplyDeleteI'm baking one of these right now my first time growing or cooking with one
ReplyDeleteI'll have to post my recipe for Curried Squash Soup, too.
ReplyDeleteLove banana squash! I'm making this pie ASAP! Thank you for sharing what looks to be a tasty treat recipe!!!
ReplyDeleteExcited to try this in a few weeks -- I wound up with about 200+ lbs of giant yellow(!) "pink banana" squash this summer and and had no idea how to cook with it. I love all these recopies, the words of wisdom, and really just want to say thank you so much for creating the site.
ReplyDelete