How To Make Pumpkin Puree

There are probably already a million and one pumpkin puree recipes posted on the Internet, sharing step by step how to make pumpkin puree. But today I took a field trip today to the pumpkin patch with my preschooler, and you know what that means…

Pumpkins of course! But also…

Pockets full of corn kernels…

And hair full of hay… Ah, to be four years old again!

After finally wrangling my little one away from the Autumn wonderland, we brought our little handpicked batch of pumpkins home. Some went on our front porch as decorations for now, to be pureed later, and others met the knife this afternoon.

We washed and dried them thoroughly. Then we sliced them in half, and scooped out the seeds and stringy flesh.

I trimmed off the stems to allow the pumpkins to fit on my baking sheet better and placed them cut side down on the rimmed sheet. Then I poured about a cup of water around them.

Into the oven they went for 60 minutes, until they were soft and easily scooped out of their skins. I then pureed the pulp with my trusty Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender, divided the puree up into one-cup portions, and placed each portion in a Ziploc bag to freeze for all kinds of yummy Fall treats!

I know it’s pretty darn simple, but it tastes infinitely better than canned! If you prefer the thicker consistency of canned pumpkin puree, you can strain some of the water off by placing the puree in a cheesecloth-lined sieve to drain for about 30 minutes before using or freezing. But I use it in my favorite pumpkin recipes, like pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie, as is.

The three little pumpkins that I pureed today produced about 5 cups of pumpkin puree. The puree should keep for up to a year in the freezer, but I’m sure mine will be gone long before then!

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How To Make Pumpkin Puree

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients

• pie pumpkins
• 1 cup water

Instructions

1. Wash and thoroughly dry your pumpkins.
2. Slice in half and scoop out the stringy flesh and seeds. Trim the stems off and lay cut side down on a baking sheet.
3. Pour about one cup of water around the pumpkins and bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour, until the flesh is soft and can be scooped out easily.
4. Scoop out pumpkin pulp and place in a large bowl to puree with an immersion blender. You could also transfer it in batched to a food processor to puree.
5. If your pumpkin puree is too thin, you can strain off some of the water by lining a sieve with cheesecloth and transferring the puree to it for about 20 minutes.

Have you tried this recipe?

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