Pumpkin Purée
How to make your own pumpkin purée at home, like the canned stuff at the store but better!
Pumpkin Purée is one of my favorite staples to make during fall time because the possibilities are endless! Pumpkin baked goods, pumpkin soups, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin oatmeal…I mean really, endless.
The most important things about this recipe is that you use sugar pumpkins! If you use regular pumpkins you will end up with a stringy mess. The sugar pumpkins are also much smaller to they are a lot easier to work with. You usually can only find these in the grocery stores during the fall time, but if you have a garden I highly recommend planting some in the spring for fall harvest.
What you will need:
5 Whole Sugar Pumpkins
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Cut the tops off of all the pumpkins and half them.
3. Scrape the seeds and strings of pulp out of the pumpkin and set aside (see roasted pumpkin seeds recipe, under snacks).
4. Arrange the halved pumpkins on the sheet pan, skin side UP.
5. Bake 40–45 minutes, until soft.
6. Peel off the pumpkin skin, it should peel off very easily. Discard or compost skins.
7. Add the remaining part of the pumpkin to your food processor. Repeat this process for all five pumpkins.
8. Blend/Purée until smooth. From here you either use right away, or store for later use.
9. Side note: Pumpkin purée can also be canned and processed in a water bath for shelf-stable preservation.
This year I bought a ton of these from a local grocer. I processed them all and canned them so that they will stay good and I can use them throughout the year, I really recommend this for anyone looking to get into food preservation. This year I hope to grow enough in my garden to not have to purchase them at a store.
