This is roasted butternut squash slices pie of exceptional delicacy. Unlike traditional pumpkin pie, no vegetal tones or stodgy finish mar the radiance of this pie, which stops just short of a custard and glows with the burnish of spice. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them – even nonsubscribers.

20is a pie of exceptional delicacy. Make the crust: Combine flour and salt in food processor bowl, and pulse. Remove lid, scatter vegetable shortening and butter over surface, and pulse 5 or 6 times. Combine beaten egg and 3 tablespoons ice water. Pulse liquid into dry ingredients, continuing until mixture is evenly moist and dough looks curdy, about 10 seconds. Turn onto work surface, and press firmly into disk, adding drops of water if dough feels dry.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight. Trim and crimp edges, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, place large pizza stone on lowest rack in oven, and heat at 425 degrees for 1 hour. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can go without. It can help prevent a soggy bottom crust.

Line chilled pie pan with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake on pizza stone for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until crust dries out and crimped edges begin to color, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower oven heat to 300 degrees. While crust bakes, prepare filling: Combine eggs, vanilla, sugars, salt and spices in food processor, and process until smooth.

Add squash purée, and process until smooth. With machine running, pour in heavy cream, and process to combine. Scrape filling into hot prebaked shell, and bake on pizza stone for 20 minutes. Tent edges loosely with foil if browning too quickly. Meanwhile, prepare the candied squash and ginger relish, if using: Combine squash, lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar and salt in small bowl, and stir well.

Turn into small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until tender and liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Remove pie from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream and the relish, if desired. To make roasted squash purée, heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut squash necks in half lengthwise. Slice into 1-inch sections, coat with 1 tablespoon grapeseed or other neutral oil, and place in a single layer on a sheet pan. Be the first to leave one. Get recipes, tips and offers in your inbox. Opt out or contact us anytime. About UsNYT Cooking is a subscription service of The New York Times.