Today we served a gorgeous Pumpkin Soup and one of our customers asked me what brand of Can we use! Can?!?!?!? Not in our Kitchen! She seemed to think that roasting your own pumpkin would be difficult and unrealistic. It is a little time consuming, but you have fresh pumpkin all year long after a few hours of work. Here is how:
Cut the pumpkin right in half so that it will fit nicely in a roasting pan, resting flat on the bottom. Clean out the seeds and gunk, leave the peel. Tip: I like to buy the tall skinny pumpkins because I can fit both halves in a single roasting pan.
Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, just under an inch of water. Bake at 350º F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Until the Pumpkin is fork tender.
Let it rest, just turn off the oven and let it hang out until it cools.
Using a small knife carefully cut away the skin. Discard.
Chop the flesh into manageable pieces. Working in small batches puree the pumpkin in the blender or food processor. Use the left over water in the bottom of the pan to get it moving if you have to. Tip: Working in small batches helps use less water, you do not want to water down your pumpkin too much or it may mess with your recipes later on.
I like to separate my puree into 1 cup and 2 cup zip lock bags and then freeze them. I lay them out on a baking sheet to freeze. Then they are easy to stack at the back of the freezer for easy use all year long. Pumpkin Pie, Muffins, Soup, Bread, Cookies.... The possibilities are endless.
If you would like my Pumpkin Muffin recipe just let me know. They are fantastic all year long!
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