Sweet Potato & Pecan Pie

As I post my Thanksgiving recipes, I figure I should recap what we had this year.
To Drink:
Marinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider

...And Vin Glogg

 To eat:  Port Wine Cranberry Sauce

Quorn roast (for me the veggie), lobster tails (for my husband and a friend of ours, not veggie), Quadruple onion dressing (recipe to be posted soon), shallot mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, green bean casserole, roasted butternut squash, chive scones (recipe to be posted soon), and sweet potato pecan pie for dessert. Here's the pie:

Unlike all other Thanksgiving food, I don't have a particular nostalgia for any specific desserts. I was thumbing through my Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook, and decided I wanted to make a sweet potato & pecan pie. This also makes the occasion of my first from scratch pie crust but I won't detail that here. I was a bit anxious about it; I'd only have sweet potato pie once before, about 10 years ago, but I was really happy with the results. I followed the recipe verbatim, Dinosaur gets the full credit here, with recipe put in my own words.

Sweet Potato & Pecan Pie (Makes 1 9-in pie)

• 1 frozen, pastry pie crust 

For the sweet potato filling:

• 2 C cooked, mashed sweet potato
• 3/4 C sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 14 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 C sweetened condensed milk

For the pecan topping:

• 1 C coarsely chopped pecans
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 dark corn syrup
• 1/3 tsp salt
• pinch ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Get out the crust and pie pan from the freezer. Mix together all the ingredients for the sweet potato filling in a large bowl and combine til smooth, working to get any lumps out of the potatoes. Set aside
2. In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the pecan topping and stir until well mixed. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the pie crust shell and smooth out the top. Pour on the pecan topping and smooth out the top. 
3. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours until the crust is golden and the filling firm. Serve at room temperature.

Kitchen Notes: This makes a very full pie, mine spilled over the top. The cookbook recommends a slightly larger than usual pie crust and a slightly deeper pie pan--use them if you have them! The only modification I made to the recipe was to add a bit more salt to the pecan mixture, which is captured in my printing of the recipe above. I thought a mild salty taste would complement the pecans well.

Verdict? This hybrid pie is a keeper! The smooth potato filling is an ideal match for the crunchy pecans. I will definitely make a few modifications for my next attempt though. I like more spice in my pie, so I'll add more cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. I'd also prefer for the pecans to be more of an additional layer, rather than a topping, so I will decrease the ratio of potato and increase the ratio of pecans.