Thanksgiving Recipe: Sweet Potato Pie

Thanksgiving Delight: Sweet Potato Pie

Prep (20 minutes +) + Cook (2 hours)
8 servings

This wonderful side dish has graced my family’s Thanksgiving table for as long as I can remember, and everybody seems to want the recipe—so here it is! The sweet potatoes don’t need to be tended to while boiling, so you can cook them any time during the day, and you can make the filling up to a day in advance. This pie can be part of a weeknight meal with cornbread and a rotisserie chicken.

3 Tbsp. butter
3 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup nonfat or low fat milk
1 prepared pie crust, or make your own (see directions below)

Remove the butter from the refrigerator to soften it. In a stockpot, immerse the sweet potatoes in water and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer it until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork, about 50 minutes. (New directions 12/07) Peel and cut potatoes into large cubes. Add to heating water and boil for 20 – 25 min. until fork tender). When they are done cooking, immerse the potatoes in cold water and pull their skins off. Put the flesh of the potatoes in a large bowl, and discard the skins.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the sweet potatoes with the butter and all the remaining ingredients except the crust. Whip the mixture by hand until it is mostly smooth. (At this point, you can refrigerate the filling for up to 48 hours). Spoon the sweet potatoes into the crust and bake it for an hour (or up to 1 1/2 hours if you like a browner top). Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving it.

To make your own 20 minute pie crust: Combine 1 cup of flour and 1/2 tsp. salt in a bowl. With two forks, cut 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. butter or Crisco into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, over the pastry mixture, tossing lightly with the fork after each addition and sprinkling only the dry portion. Pastry should be just moist enough to hold together, but not sticky. With a large piece of waxed paper underneath and on top of the dough so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin, roll the dough into a circular shape. Lift off the top piece of wax paper, and flip the dough into a pie plate, gently pressing it into the plate and removing the waxed paper. With your fingers, flute the crust to the rim of the pie plate to adhere it. Trim the edges with a paring knife and patch the crust if needed. Refrigerate the crust until you are ready to fill it.

Nutritional Information per serving (% based upon daily values):
Calories 210, Total Fat 10g, 15%, Saturated Fat 3.5g, 18%, Cholesterol 40mg, 13%, Sodium 270mg, 11%, Total Carbohydrate 28g, 9%, Dietary Fiber 1g, 5%, Protein 3g, Sugar 10g

Nutritional Information per serving (with 1/6 rotisserie chicken and 1 piece of cornbread) (% based upon daily values):
Calories 596, Total Fat 19g, 38% Saturated Fat 8g, 40%, Cholesterol 184mg, 61%, Sodium 1215mg, 50%, Total Carbohydrate 58g, 19%, Dietary Fiber 2g, 11%, Sugar 6g, Protein 41g