I wrote a post awhile back about our huge cushaw squash we grew this year. I had no idea what to do with cushaw squash but they seemed cool and odd and interesting so I decided to grow a bunch of it. I searched around a few places and read at least 7 minutes online and discovered that cushaw squash can be used in place of pumpkin, butternut squash, hubbard squash or sweet potatoes. Cool! I love pumpkin pie so we decided to make some cushaw pumpkin pie. 
Of course, I have never made a pumpkin pie from scratch either so we had some figgerin’ to do. After another 7 minutes of reading, we discovered how to proceed. We cut the squash in half and deseeded it (the seeds are awesome baked too btw! We baked 30 minutes at 350 in a cooking sprayed pan). I lined two baking dishes with foil and sprayed the foil and the exposed squash halves with cooking spray. I baked the squash face down on the foil at 350 for 1 hr 15 minutes (of course, the size of the squash will determine the time. I did a small one first). Once baked, we scooped out the flesh with an ice cream scooper and used in it place of canned pumpkin in our recipe.
By the way, here is our recipe:
Pumpkin/Cushaw Pie
4 eggs
4 cups pumpkin/cushaw (or 1 large can)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or mix your own…see online)
2 large cans evaporated milk
 Combine all ingredients and pour into prepared pie crusts. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Makes 2 pies.
We followed the recipe pretty much. Our squash was pretty liquid so we only added 1 can of the evaporated milk. If you want a super orange pie like pumpkin, you’ll need to add coloring. Ours was naturally a greenish, yellowish, orangey color which suited us fine.
The pie was awesome and simple to make. Its flavor was delicious and the lighter color made it really pleasant to look at.
Of course, we did a taste test and our two judges gave two thumbs up…clearly a winner!
We’ll probably bake the rest of our squash and freeze the pureed flesh for future pies. I saved some seeds too so I excpet we’ll plant more cushaw next year!
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Wow, interesting. I have actually never heard of Cushaw squash before until now. Learn something new everyday!
This has been a bumper year for all sortsa squarsh.
Sounds and looks yummy and I’d say your family enjoyed, cute photos!
Very nice! Love it, great idea. It looks so yummy too. Pumpkin Pie is my favorite, but I’ve never thought of using squash instead!
I didn’t know much about squarsh (thanks Chris!) and especially not winter squash but this stuff was awesome! It is easy to grow, easy to store, pretty, unique and it tastes as good or better than pumpkin in a pie. I don’t knwo if all winter squash works this way but I saved a bunch of seeds from this to plant next year!
Cushaw were preferred over pumpkin in hilly farmland areas (Appalachia) as pumpkins can grow very large and can be quite dangerous if they break free on the hillside. My grandmother used to make these all the time… I like them better than pumpkin… Often hard to find though… suggest growing yourself… Cushaw = awesome.
thanks so much for your post~~it was very helpful!!! we are having a canned pumpkin shortage where we live!!! so–my dad being the gardner he is informed me that cushaw is really what is mostly in those cans——sooooo you get the story!!!! we have several growing and almost ready to fix!!! your post has been the most helpful!!!! thanks sooooo much and i cant wait to try our pie!!!!!
My grandmother used to make cushaw pie at every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would like to grow some this summer, but can’t seem to find seed. Could you tell me where you found your seed?
Mother Hubbard – If you are in the Charleston, WV area, I saw they had seed down at Green’s Feed and Seed (I was in there yesterday and got some actually). I have not looked for it elsewhere online etc but I suspect that the heritage seed places would have them as well. They are a blast to watch grow!