Natalia's Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Step 2: Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the very edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

Step 3: For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, if using, and nutmeg, and beat until incorporated.

Step 4: Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust. If desired, add decorative pieces of pie dough (using extra pie dough, of course), such as making leaf cut-outs and circling them around the edges. Bake the pie for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. See Note.

Step 5: Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream, if desired.

NOTE: If decorating with pieces of pie dough, such as leaf cut-outs, as described in the method, keep an eye out to prevent the edges from over-browning. Once they become golden and perfectly browned, make an aluminum foil ring wrapped around edges to prevent them from over-browning/burning. This is also true for any pie that has edges.