"This pie is absolutely awful! SO disappointed. We saw this prepared and were intrigued, we thought it would be great. NOT so. The baking time on the pumpkins was not long enough. The crust was ruined - I've never had a bad crust, really soggy and gummy. Flavor was like eating baked squash with banana overtones, not very edible and not a good combination. We were terribly embarrassed. Thank heavens we did a back up pie from Pioneer Woman. Save yourself the time and use the pumpkin puree from the can, don't waste your time baking the sugar pumpkins. In our area they were hard to find, we ended up needing to bake them for 45+ minutes and even pureeing them they turned out grainy. It also makes enough for 3 pies. Three simply awful pies. I agree with the suggestion to drop the meringue. I would suggest avoiding this pie altogether. It is a waste of time and money, but for goodness sakes, if you do make it, use the altered versions people have offered up.