Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie

Here's another recipe I tweaked to come up with something a little different.  I came up with this idea in the following way:  several years ago, I was trying to make a pumpkin pie with a traditional pastry crust, but for whatever reason, the crust just wouldn't cooperate for me.  (It kept falling apart.)  Finally, in despair, I went out to the grocery to buy a ready-made crust, but they were out of everything but graham cracker crusts.  I bought one of those, and kind of liked the way the filling and the crust sort of blended together to make a new texture.  Then, the next time I made a pumpkin pie, I tried it with a gingersnap crust, to keep the texture and up the spiciness.  I hope you like the result.  Both the crust recipe and the filling recipe are from the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook.  Another advantage to this recipe is a reduced amount of fat and calories due to less of both in the non-pastry crust.

Gingersnap Crust:

Place 24 gingersnap cookies in a ziplock bag, and pulverize.  I use a meat mallet to do this but you can also use a rolling pin.  Mix with 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine and press into a 9" pie plate.

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

3 eggs, separated
1 15-16 oz can pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t salt

1.   Beat the egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form, set aside.

2.   In a large bowl with the same beaters used for the egg whites, beat together the yolks and the      remaining ingredients until well-blended.  Fold in the egg whites.

3.   Place the filled pie plate on a cookie sheet and carefully pour the filling into the crust.  Carefully place the cookie sheet with the pie on it into a 375F oven.

4.   Start checking for doneness after about 45 minutes by sticking a knife into the filling about an inch from the edge.  When the knife comes out clean, the pie is cooked.  It may take quite a bit more than 45 minutes...