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THIS.IS.EASY!

We all buy or grow pumpkins to proudly display during the Halloween and Thanksgiving season, right? But then what do we do with them during the transition to Christmas? Throw them away? [Boooooo] Compost them? [commendable] Best idea though? Cook them up and make yourself some delicious pumpkin puree to use in pie, soup, bread, or whatever else your Pinterest heart desires!

This year we went to a local organic farm to buy our fall pumpkins and we were able to buy a few different beauties. A traditional “pie pumpkin,” an orange heirloom, and a blue/green pumpkin similar to a Jarrahdale. We didn’t think to ask purveyor about the varieties at the time, so this was our best guess doing a simple internet search. Well, when the time came to switch seasons, we were left with 3 perfectly functional pumpkins that were certainly too good to throw away and almost felt bad about composting them. “Pumpkin Puree!” we said and thus we did. Intimidated at first and surprised by the simple process. This is surprisingly easy to make and enlightens you to a whole new way of looking at those decorative pumpkins around your house. (Amost) as simple as saying “bake, scoop, use or store” and you have delicious ready to use puree for your baking or cooking pleasure.

Ingredients

1+ Medium Pumpkin

Note: We used three pumpkins which produced 12 quarts of puree which is A LOT but you can freeze for 4-5 months for later use. We also had three different varieties of pumpkins so we puree’d them separately in order to determine the differences in flavor. This is optional, but remember each pumpkin variety has a different flavor profile!

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Half your pumpkins and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Feel free to save the seeds for later planting or roasting as a snack.

3. Quarter the halves and lay on a baking sheet with the skin down.

4. Bake for 45 – 75 minutes until tender enough to scoop from skin. After 45 minutes insert a toothpick or fork in to the “meat” of the pumpkin to check for tenderness. If you can easily puncture the pumpkin without effort than remove from oven.

5. Use a large spoon and spoon the pumpkin from the skin and place into a blender or food processor. Once you get the large scoops off don’t forget to carefully scrape the skin with the spoon to capture the last remaining bits. Blend until smooth. [If you find that your pumpkin is difficulty to scrape away from the skin, then place back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so].

6. Allow to cool to room temperature. Use immediately, refrigerate for a week, or freeze for 4-5 months in an airtight container.

YES, THIS IS REALLY THAT SIMPLE!

You are able to use this pumpkin puree in any recipe that calls for canned pumpkin puree {except yours will taste better not just because it’s fresh, but because you’ll be reeling in the idea that YOU made it from scratch!

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Enjoy!

-Lucas