When I planned my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon this month, I knew I wanted to share my favorite recipe for pumpkin pie. But I quickly realized I didn’t have enough space to print the full scratch-made version. Instead, I’m breaking down the pie recipe by its homemade components: spice mix, pumpkin puree, pie crust, and the final filling and baking.

There are several advantages to this—beyond staying within my word-count limit. Each component is presented as a standalone recipe, showing you how it can be made in advance and put to other uses. You can also choose how homemade you really want your finished pie to be. You could make your own spice mix but buy canned puree. Or you could mix and roll your own crust but use a store-bought spice blend that’s already in your cupboard.

If you do decide to go entirely homemade, spreading out these recipes over a few weeks will hopefully make the project seem less daunting. You’ll also get to enjoy bonus goodies, like roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin cookies, and pie crust snacks, along the way.

Learn more about choosing squash and pumpkins and get the complete recipe for Roasted Winter Squash Puree in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

As you clean your pumpkin or other winter squash for roasting, it’s worth cleaning up the seeds and roasting them to snack on. I shared my tips for making this easy last week. I also shared the first component of your entirely scratch-made pumpkin pie: Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix. A single batch of this blend will give you enough spices to season your roasted pumpkin seeds, bake into a pumpkin pie, and more.

The results of this week’s instructions for roasting winter squash can also be expanded to other uses. The final yield can vary depending on the density of the particular squash you choose. So when I’m roasting squash, I like to halve and clean as many as I can fit on an oven rack. I’ll then make the dish that inspired me to roast the squash in the first place and freeze the rest of the puree for later. It’s early enough that if you’re roasting squash this week for a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, you could bake some into a separate dessert to enjoy before the holiday.

Here are just a few other recipes on the blog that use roasted winter squash. You can find more in the recipe index.

• Pumpkin–Chocolate Cookies
• Oatmeal–Pumpkin Cookies
• Harvest Pumpkin Bread
• Roasted Squash Puree Soup
• Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi
• Pumpkin–Goat Cheese Ravioli with Butter–Nut Sauce

While you’re roasting squash for puree, you can also roast some in large peeled chunks for a weeknight dinner. If I’m only roasting enough squash for Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin and Parmesan or Squash–Mushroom Risotto, I put the squash chunks in the oven at a higher temperature for less time, but you can use less heat and more time for the same effect.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.