Sweet Potato and Carrot Pie

Check out that color!

I'm not sure why I bake so many pies around here? It probably has something to do with the fact that pies are a great way to use up whatever fruit, vegetable, or even meat that you may have on hand. Whether they are sweet or savory, home made pies never last very long around our house. Here is a great example of what you can do with a few sweet potatoes and a handful of carrots. Click "Read More' for the details...:)
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I hate to see food spoil. It's expensive and wasteful to buy food and not consume everything. The other day I was reorganizing my pantry and noticed that I had three fairly small sweet potatoes sitting just sitting there waiting to be used up. Of course the first thing that popped into my head was PIE! I knew that the three little potatoes I found were not going to be enough. Fortunately, I always seem to have a giant bag of carrots in my fridge. I may not always have much else in there , but that giant bag of carrots never seems to go away. It's a good thing! Carrots are mildly sweet and vibrant in color. They blend together perfectly with sweet potatoes for this tasty pie!  

​Sweet Potato and Carrot Pie

3                  *small sweet potatoes
4                  *medium carrots
3                  large eggs
1 cup           half-and-half
3/4 cup       sugar
2 tsp            ground cinnamon
2 tsp            vanilla extract
2 tsp            lemon and/or orange zest (organic)

1 or 2          *unbaked prepared pie crust/s

* The pie pictured above was prepared in an extra large pie pan. This recipe makes enough to fill 2 "standard" crusts.
* You should have about 2 cups of cooked sweet potatoes and carrots all together. 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Begin by baking the sweet potatoes and peeled carrots until tender and cooked through in a 350 degree oven. This takes about 45 minutes or so. Alternatively, you can peel and steam the sweet potatoes and carrots on the stovetop. I prefer roasting the vegetables for the additional flavor (I also use any excuse to crank up the oven during the colder months. It helps keep our old house warm.). Either way, this pie comes out great! While the vegetables are cooking, prepare your pie crust/s and have them chilling in the fridge...

Place the peeled, cooked, and cooled sweet potatoes and carrots in a mixing bowl and mash them together thouroughly until smooth.

Lightly beat the 3 eggs and add them to the sweet potato/carrot mixture and stir thouroughly. Add the half-and-half, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and citrus zest. Stir everything really well until everything is nice and smooth.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pie crust/s and bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes or until a cake tester/toothpick inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean. I tend to leave all of my pies in the oven a bit longer than most folks. This ensures a fully-cooked bottom crust. There is nothing worse than a soggy pie crust. I have found that it is often the reason many people say that they don't like pie, or that they "only eat the filling". I also like to use the bottom rack of my oven along with a baking stone. The stone helps to heat the pie more evenly. Allow the pie to cool and enjoy plain or with a bit of whipped cream. Enjoy! :)