Cutting up a fresh pumpkin isn’t all that hard, but if you cook the pumpkin FIRST, it is a much easier job. Take your sugar pumpkin and cut three slashes in it. Put it on a cookie sheet and bake it in a 350 degree oven until you can easily stick a knife right through the pumpkin. Take it out, cut it open, remove the seeds, and scrape the flesh away from the skin. Puree the flesh in a food processor or mash it. You can line a strainer with coffee filters, put the pumpkin puree into it, set it over a bowl, and let it drain overnight. You’ll end up with very good pumpkin puree and no added food coloring or anything else they put in the canned stuff.
As for the pie, this is the recipe I use:
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
2 eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition.
Pour mixture into the unbaked pastry shell. Place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning.
Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown. Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.
Always gets rave reviews at Thanksgiving dinner. :)
By the way, you will most likely have leftover pumpkin puree. It freezes well and you can add it to pancake batter or make muffins or bread with it.
For the crust:
½ cup vegetable shortening
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold water (ice water is best)
Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork.
Roll gently on a floured pastry cloth to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half, lift to pie plate, and unfold. Press into pan. For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about ½ inch beyond rim. Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim.