This is absolutely the easiest way ever for making pumpkin puree. I have always hated trying to hack into a pumpkin using a knife to cut it open. The pumpkin is always so tough and I’m afraid that I’ll end up cutting of my finger or something. With this simple method there is no difficult cutting involved. Yay :)
Wash your pumpkin well and then preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Next, place the pumpkin in the oven on a rack and bake until soft enough to insert a knife. You may want to put a cookie sheet on the rack below the pumpkin to catch any drips, but I didn’t have any.
Once the pumpkin is done cooking, simply let is sit on top of the stove for a little while to cool. I let mine cool for about half an hour. Then, all you have to do is cut in half (and it will be SO easy!). Use a spoon to remove the seeds and pulp and then scoop the flesh into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. That’s it! Use the puree within a few days, or freeze for future use. What a great and easy way to get fresh pumpkin and avoid the BPA from canned products. I’ll be sharing a recipe for some tasty flourless pumpkin bars this week that you won’t want to miss but in the meantime you might want to try a pumpkin pie smoothie.
Ingredients
- one pie pumpkin (mine was about 3 pounds)
Instructions
- Wash your pumpkin well and then preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
- Next, place the pumpkin in the oven on a rack and bake until soft enough to insert a knife. You may want to put a cookie sheet on the rack below the pumpkin to catch any drips, but I didn't have any. A 3 pound pumpkin took about 1 hour to cook.
- Once the pumpkin is done cooking, simply let is sit on top of the stove for a little while to cool. I let mine cool for about half an hour.
- Cut in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds and pulp and then scoop the flesh into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Use the puree within a few days, or freeze for future use.
My son wanted to make pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin this year. He was so disappointed when I told him I did that once and won’t do it again. So now I get to tell him we can do it after all! He’s going to be thrilled! Thanks! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me too. :)
Awww. That is so sweet, Lynda :)
Had to come bake and say a big thanks. This was so easy! And we went ahead and tried your pumpkin bars while we were at it. Yum! Definitely need to make a double batch next time. ;)
You are very welcome :)
Well who knew it could be this simple?
I have cooked pumpkin several ways over the years, tried everything from steaming to baking…..all involved cutting it up into manageable chunks and getting those slippery seeds out of there first.
Now I read this easy way to do it!
I will certainly look forward to doing this for lots of good fall recipes where fresh pumpkin is the star ingredient.
Looking forward to your pumpkin bar recipe, and maybe some of the other comments will include ways they use fresh pumpkin…..maybe some without refined sugar? Maybe some nice vegetable dishes? Some ideas besides desserts? Let’s hear it readers…how do you use that wonderful veggie?
Actually it’s very good just with some butter, plus a little salt and pepper…..sometimes we mess up a really good food by adding it to a bunch of other ingredients and making something (in this case pumpkin) flavored! Let’s not lose the star. What do you think?
You’re right, Janet. Fresh pumpkin often gets overlooked. I’ll have to see if I can find something yummy to make and share with you all :)
Perfect timing for the season!! Imagine the possibilities with fresh puree….
It really is delicious. We had pumpkin “pie” oatmeal for breakfast this morning and it was SO good :)
We’re all so well trained that the squash has to be cut first, this is one of those “why didn’t I think of that?!?” ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
There have been so many times I’ve seen things and thought the same thing, Ashley :)
I’ve heard of this method before but have yet to try it. I hate cutting open a pumpkin. this sounds like the right solution.
I hate cutting up a pumpkin too so this method is the best as far as I’m concerned :)
I do all squash this way… any thing with a tough outer skin. Makes veggie lobotomies so much easier..
Most canned pumpkin comes from cushaws…not your typical orange pumpkins that we carve. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_argyrosperma
It really does have a much better taste. Just letting you know to try these if you didn’t know already.
Interesting, Cassie! I actually saw some cumshaw’s when we went to the farm the other day and now I wish I would’ve bought some. Thanks and have a bless day!
Katie
Yup! This is how I do it as well. I often bake other squashes whole, too, and cut and remove the seeds later. I only cut up raw squash when I need cubes for a recipe. This post is timely, my co-op has Sugar Pie pumpkins and it’s time to start trying different versions of non-dairy pumpkin pie before the holidays get here.
I can’t wait to try this! How long does the purée keep in the freezer? With all this cold weather I’m definitely going to whip some up and freeze for future use.
I believe they say 6 months, but I’ve used puree from the freezer that had been in there almost a year and it was just fine. We like to freeze individual portions and mix it into our hot breakfast cereal :)
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