Around our house, Autumn makes us think of pumpkins. We like to decorate with our table with cute little pumpkins, but even more, we like to eat pumpkin treats!
Many pumpkin recipes call for canned pumpkin puree, but you can make your very own pumpkin puree from scratch… all you need is a pie pumpkin. Large pumpkins that are sold for carving don’t work well for cooking as they are usually more stringy and have a higher water content. So look for a pie pumpkin when you want to make fresh pumpkin puree.
Ingredients:
1 pie pumpkin
Equipment:
cutting board
sharp knife
spoon
bowl
cookie sheet
metal spatula
oven mitt
potato masher
(optional: food processor)
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Wash the outside of the pumpkin. With an adult’s help, cut the pumpkin in half.
2.With a spoon, scoop out the seeds from each half into the bowl. Scrape sides with the spoon to be sure you are all the way down to the flesh.
3. Place your cleaned pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet. We don’t grease our sheet or add water because it can make the puree runny.
4. Bake the pumpkin at 350° for about an hour. You want it to be nice and soft. You can test this by flipping over the pumpkin with a spatula (wear an oven mitt!) and pressing a fork into the flesh.
5. Let the pumpkin halves cool, then scoop the cooked pumpkin flesh out of the skin and into a bowl.
6. Mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. If you prefer a very smooth puree, you can also use a food processor.
7. Use the puree in your favorite pumpkin recipe! We like to freeze any leftovers; just defrost a day or so before you want to use it.
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients:
1 pie pumpkinEquipment:
cutting board
sharp knife
spoon
bowl
cookie sheet
metal spatula
oven mitt
potato masher
(optional: food processor)Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Wash the outside of the pumpkin. With an adult’s help, cut the pumpkin in half.
2.With a spoon, scoop out the seeds from each half into the bowl. Scrape sides with the spoon to be sure you are all the way down to the flesh.
3. Place your cleaned pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet. We don’t grease our sheet or add water because it can make the puree runny.
4. Bake the pumpkin at 350° for about an hour. You want it to be nice and soft. You can test this by flipping over the pumpkin with a spatula (wear an oven mitt!) and pressing a fork into the flesh.
5. Let the pumpkin halves cool, then scoop the cooked pumpkin flesh out of the skin and into a bowl.
6. Mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. If you prefer a very smooth puree, you can also use a food processor.
7. Use the puree in your favorite pumpkin recipe! We like to freeze any leftovers; just defrost a day or so before you want to use it.
You guys are amazing! How do I subscribe to the blog?
Good information about not adding water or greasing the cookie sheet! I didn’t think of that. Great post!
I agree. Thanks for the tip. And this is making me very hungry.
I got to have some of the pie that was made from that puree. It was, and I mean this, the very best pie I have had in many, many years. Perhaps the best pie I ever had.
We will be posting the recipe for this pumpkin pie on the 19th of December.