How to Puree a Pumpkin

With the holidays right around the corner I’m sure you’re starting to plan your holiday baking. I know I am! One thing I’m sure you’re thinking about with Thanksgiving this week is the traditional pumpkin desserts. Now, these are great with the normal canned pumpkin, but have you ever considered taking them to the next level by pureeing your own pumpkin? My Dad has been doing this for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I remember helping out in the kitchen a few days before Thanksgiving while he prepped everything. It was always so exciting as a kid to have him cook the pumpkin because it meant the holidays and family gatherings were right around the corner!This year I picked up a GIANT pumpkin for $2.99 at Aldi back a few weeks before Halloween. I used it to decorate our porch for several weeks before I brought it inside to cook. So not only are you saving money by making your own pumpkin puree you can also use it as decoration for several weeks. Make sure you cook it before it starts to mold, although you can cut off portions with mold on them as long as it’s not invasive.To get started you want to bring a pot of water to boil on the stove. Do not salt the water, this will give the pumpkin a salty taste that you don’t want.Scrape all the seeds from the inside of the pumpkin. I find it easiest to cut the pumpkin into quarters and scrape from there. Then you want to cut your pumpkin into 6in (ish) chunks. Boil the chunks in the water until they are soft. This will take approximately 20-25 minutes per batch.Once they have been boiled you want to cool them so that you can touch them. I leave them on a baking sheet until they are cool enough to handle.You then want to cut the rind off. If you’ve cooked the pumpkin long enough the rind will pretty much come right off. I use a butter knife so there is less of a chance I’ll hurt myself.Once the rind is off, put the pumpkin in a food processor using the puree attachment. Puree until there are no chunks left. Store the puree in the freezer until ready to use. Because there are no additives the puree will only last a few days in the fridge before it molds. I like to store the puree in 1 Cup baggies so I can easily defrost as much as I need for a recipe.Use this pumpkin as you would the canned stuff in a recipe. The pumpkin has more water content than the canned stuff so make sure you take this into account when using it. You may have to add additional flour to a recipe to make it the right consistency.