Was wondering if anyone is familiar with cushaw squash, and ever had cushaw pie. I had never heard of it until my late mother in law made one for me maybe 15 years ago. Cushaw pie is similar to pumpkin pie, but it’s not as strong flavored. While pumpkin pie is usually enjoyed in the fall, cushaw is a year round pie, at least in these parts.
My wife bought a cushaw from a neighbor last week, and yesterday we cut it up, cooked it down into a puree. This morning she made two pies. She makes them more like a tart, with a meringue topping, just like her Mom and aunts did.
Here’s a few pics of the filling in the crust, making the meringue, and finished product.
I like the custard style pumpkin better, but this is lighter, and not as thick. I think I’ve had sweet potato pie, but don’t remember a lot about it, but I’d say it’s similar to cushaw.
I had never heard of cushaw until I came up here. It’s grown in the south, but for some reason my kin never used it back home.
This is what is looks like after it’s cooked down and puréed. Think we got about 4qt total from the one squash. She made two pies with the filling this morning, and she’s saving the rest for cushaw bread.
Wait for puree to cool down to warm then add egg yolks, don’t want to add them when it’s hot or the yolks will cook. Add all the other ingredients and cook for a while over low heat. It ended up looking like this:
I used to eat cushaws all the time years ago. Mostly in Kentucky when we went back home to visit. I forgot about cushaws until I saw this article. Looks delicious. Great job!!!
No problem, it’s good to not share too much into except in private message. Since you had a long drive to AppHarvest in Rowan County, I just assumed you in next county east of there.
Anyhow, good memories of cushaw pies…thanks for sharing. If I ever get cushaw pie again, after more than 50 years, I’ll likely have to make it myself.
So you basically replace butternut squash in pumpkin pie. Should work equally well with Acorn, Cheese pumpkin or just about any winter squash except spaghetti
I like that I can tastes the difference between Butternut and Acorn. It’s not so big of a difference I couldn’t swap them any day of the week. My problem with Winter Squash is there is raw vegetal flavor I dislike. There is a lot more of it in spaghetti squash then other winters. Roasting Spaghetti cuts the flavor and now its my go to squash for stuffing when I used to hate it before.
So, my question is. Do you boil your squash for the puree or roast it first? And does the Cushaw have the vegetal flavor or is it just naturally low in it? I suspect the reason Cushaw is received so well vs traditional pumpkin is that vegetal flavor is coming though transformed rather than being completely absent in sugar pumpkins.
We grew a lot of pie pumpkins last year. To prepare those, I cut them in half, coated them with oil of some type and roasted them in the oven. That helped get the peel off. But, you can also cut it up into slices, remove the peel, then cut it up in chunks. Then put them in a large pot with some water and cook it down, like we did with the cushaw. Either way will work, because you’re going to have to cook it down regardless.
Cushaw puree has a milder taste compared to pumpkin, whether it’s more ‘vegetal’ flavored, I don’t know. But like with pumpkin, you need to add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar for pies. But, you can also season the puree so that it’s more of a savory dish. My wife did that with some of the puree, it had a similar taste and consistency of mashed potatoes, oddly enough. And with other squash, I guess you could make soup out of cushaw.
I had been hoping to find a cushaw or something sitting out by the garbage for free taking…but didn’t spot any this year. (People maybe are cooking and eating them after decorating in October/November…? Or they just tardy in replacing pumpkins using evergreen boughs this year?)
We usually don’t see cushaws out there for the taking, we usually have to pay someone for one. Pumpkins are a different story. We had a bumper crop of them last year, so we had no need for them this year.
I spent part of the day today raking up grass piles in the yard and throwing them on the garden to give them a little boost for next year. Then the rain set in so I put up our big Christmas tree. Hard to believe it’s that time of year already.
