One of my favorite things about fall is sweet potatoes. In eastern NC, sweet potatoes are a huge cash crop. The first 3 years that Michael and I were married our home was surrounded by fields. The crops were rotated every fall, but at least two years sweet potatoes were grown. After the primary crops were taken from the fields we gleaned the leftover sweet potatoes. It was such a blessing!
I can't tell you how many sweet potatoes we ate during those years! I can tell you that I made many a sweet potato pie!
We still live in a very rural area and our back yard faces soybean fields. While we no longer have sweet potato fields to glean, thankfully they are a local food that can be bought frugally.
For Thanksgiving this year I will be bringing this pie to my Aunt Linda's house. Sweet potatoes are such an easy vegetable to cook that it's a snap to make this pie!
I actually prefer the taste of sweet potato pie to pumpkin. I hope you will try it this year and tell me what you think!
Sweet Potato Pie
1 unbaked gluten free pie crust (I used this one)
2 cups sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 eggs
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
Spices:
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl combine all spices with sugar. In a large bowl beat eggs lightly. Add mashed sweet potatoes and sugar/spice mixture to eggs. Mix together thoroughly. Gradually add in evaporated milk. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated 425 degree oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
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NOTE: I make a ring of aluminum foil to place around the crust of the pie while baking. This prevents the crust from overly browning or burning.