FOOD NEWS
Ruth Reichl's Pumpkin Pie Tip Requires Showing One Ingredient Some More Love
By Laura Zbinden
While many home cooks have their own beloved recipes for pumpkin pie, Ruth Reichl has a unique tip to elevate its flavor — roast the pumpkin puree in the oven first.
In her book "My Kitchen Year," she recommends spreading the purée with a spatula across a baking sheet and baking it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roasting the purée removes that slightly unpleasant, almost bitter, raw pumpkin flavor, making the filling smoother and sweeter with a hint of warmth and oven-roasted goodness.
This is especially true if you combine the purée with classic pumpkin pie spices and sugar before roasting because it allows the flavors to develop and shine.
Roasting your pumpkin puree also evaporates some excess liquid, resulting in a thicker, more pumpkin-forward filling and a pie crust that is more likely to stay firm.
Only add spices and sugar when roasting, and leave out other ingredients like eggs or cream, as cooking them longer than necessary creates an undesirable, rubbery consistency.