HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE

WITH FALL DRAWING NEAR, PUMPKIN EVERYTHING IS ON THE HORIZON! LEARN HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE AT HOME FOR USE IN ALL OF YOUR FAVORITE FALL RECIPES.

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT PUMPKINS?!

Pumpkins are one of the quintessential pictures of fall. We love pumpkins for their variety of uses! They can be grown in your garden, picked at a farm, carved, painted or of course eaten. Pumpkins also make for beautiful, eco-friendly fall decor in the home or outdoors.

Pumpkins can be stored for several months before eating. In fact, most varieties of pumpkins get sweeter as they sit after being picked from the vine. This makes them a great storage item for a dry root cellar, or other dry, cool location.

With so many recipes in the world calling for pumpkin, why not carve up the pumpkin that’s been decorating your dining table and put it to good use? Our favorite thing to cook with pumpkin puree is these incredible pumpkin muffins. For more recipe ideas from our Simply Rooted Farmhouse, click here.

HOW TO CHOOSE A PUMPKIN

There are about as many types of pumpkin as there are recipes (tons)! The best pumpkin varieties for eating will be very fleshy with fewer seeds. If you are at the grocery store, look for pumpkins advertised as sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins.

If you are growing pumpkins at home, or purchasing them from a farm you will find there are many different varieties that aren’t typically found in stores (or not in our area anyway)!

My husband and I have gotten some of our most valuable gardening knowledge from chatting with local farmers at farmer’s markets, greenhouses or their own farms! I was able to score the beautiful Mosque de Province pumpkin featured in these photos after speaking to a farmer who was growing them in our area.

GROWING PUMPKINS

Pumpkins can easily be grown in your backyard or garden as long as plenty of space is provided. Most pumpkin varieties get extremely large, so they will need a sizable area to spread out. Cross pollination will occur between pumpkins and other varieties of squash, so care should be taken to plant them in a different area from your vegetable garden.

As always, it’s worth doing a little research on different types of pumpkins before planting. Some varieties mature quickly such as sugar pumpkins, while others can take a few months. I’m saying this from our own experience!

We grew Mosque de Province pumpkins last year in our garden as an experiment. Mosque de Province are a heirloom variety that are grown for their flavor. They take about 100-110 days to mature, which is our entire growing season here in New England. This variety of pumpkin is not a high producer, so the plants grow many long vines with few pumpkins. Well, if you recall from our summer garden tour we had a handful of hungry baby groundhogs last year which did a number on our Mosque de Province.

While visiting a neighboring farm looking for carving pumpkins for the boys, the farm owner and I started talking about growing pumpkins. He agreed Mosque de Province are difficult to grow in our area, but he did have a few for sale! So, as the strangest birthday gift on the planet, I purchased a huge pumpkin for $5 as part of my husband’s birthday gift last year. We let it sit in our living room for 3 months to sweeten. The pumpkin turned from greenish brown to a burgundy color, then we pureed it and enjoyed it for months. In fact, there’s still some in my freezer today!

TOOLS NEEDED TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE

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• Pumpkin (of course!)
• Cutting board
• Large knife
• Spoon to remove seeds
• Salt
• Baking pans, or deep roasting pans
• Aluminum foil
• Cheesecloth
• Blender or hand blender to puree
• Sandwich sized baggies for freezing (optional)

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE

1. Preheat your oven to about 350 degrees.
2. Wash the pumpkin and dry with a towel.
3. Cut the pumpkin into slices.
4. Remove seeds. If the pumpkin is an heirloom variety, consider drying the seeds to plant next year.
5. Cover the pumpkin’s skin in olive oil to prevent it from sticking.
6. Place pumpkin onto baking pan (a deeper pan works best).
7. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the pumpkin to help absorb some moisture while cooking.
8. Cover with aluminum foil.
9. Bake until fork tender – the cook time will vary depending on the size of the pumpkin pieces, but will be about 45 min – 90+ mins. Water will continuously seep out of the pumpkin while cooking, so it is important to use a deeper pan or carefully drain excess water out while cooking.
10. Once the pumpkin is fork tender and has cooled, remove skin.
11. Squeeze pulp through cheesecloth to remove excess water.
12. Puree with a blender/hand blender until desired consistency is met.
13. Store in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days, or freeze in small portions.

PUMPKIN PUREE NOTES

Pumpkins will secrete quite a bit of water while cooking. Consider what types of recipes you will be making to determine how much water you’ll want to squeeze out of the pulp after it’s been cooked. For example, if you’re into pumpkin smoothies like I am, it’s okay to leave the mixture a bit watery.

Smaller sugar pumpkins produce the amount of puree as about 1 can of store-bought puree. The large Mosque de Province pumpkin pictured here produced about the equivalent of 8-10 cans of pumpkin puree (for $5). With it I made smoothies, pancakes and muffins for 8 months. And, I have about 3 more cans’ worth in our freezer as we speak!

FREEZING PUMPKIN PUREE

When our puree had cooled, we poured it into sandwich sized bags and laid them flat in our freezer. Once the puree was frozen solid, the bags were flat and stacked nicely in the door of our large freezer in the basement for long term storage. Frozen pumpkin puree has so far lasted us about 8 months and still has a great taste!

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

PIN IT FOR LATER!

You may also like:

The best pumpkin muffin recipe

How to make delicious pumpkin bread

Thank you for visiting the farmhouse today as we shared our experience with pureeing pumpkin! In our home, we absolutely love the fall season and all of the pumpkin goodness that comes with it. I would love to hear what your favorite pumpkin recipes are in the comments below! Don’t forget to subscribe to have our latest recipes, homemade creations and eco-friendly tips delivered straight to your email inbox. Until next time!

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