Pumpkin season is in full swing right now! I go through pumpkin by the caseload these days. We love Pumpkin everything! So when my girls asked if we could make a pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin I said SURE! I knew it could be done, but I had no idea how EASY it was!
So first of all, pumpkin’s – there are different types of pumpkin, do NOT use carving pumpkins for this, find Sugar Pumpkins, they are smaller but most stores carry them. Often there will be a sticker on the pumpkin that says “pie pumpkin”
- 1 sugar pumpkins
- cut your pumpkin in half
- scoop out the guts, the seeds and strings, scoop it nice and clean
- cut off the stem's
- place the pumpkin cut side down and pierce the back with a fork
- cover it with foil and bake it at 350 for an hour and a half
- let them cool slightly then scrap all the pumpkin out of the skin
- puree the pumpkin in a food processor, or in smaller batches in a blender
- if it's too wet, as mine was, you'll need to strain it
- place 3 layers of paper towels into a strainer over a bowl and pour the puree into it
- once it's quit dripping it will be ready to use!
Now depending on the pumpkin it might be read to go right after pureeing. But some are too wet or too dry, you can either add a bit of water or strain the extra liquid out. You can tell right away. Use three layers of paper towels and place them into a strainer over the bowl. Pour the puree in and it should start to drip right away, when it starts dripping I flipped the pumpkin puree over.
And with that the puree is done! Weigh what you have (every pumpkin is different) to know what you should use in a recipe. I suggest making a few pumpkins at once so you have plenty for any recipe you want to make. Pumpkin pies are the obvious, easy recipe, but you can make any recipe that call’s for canned pumpkin with this!
So speaking of pumpkin… What is your favorite recipe to use pumpkin in? I have my cream cheese pumpkin pie, pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes, this amazing warm pumpkin drink, easy pumpkin cake, and a few more coming!
Tricia West
October 28, 2014 at 7:05 amHow can you claim rights to this as a recipe. It is not a recipe that you have made up, it is just the common basic way to cook a pumpkin. It ha been done like this for years way before the American introduction of canned pumpkin purée, which is just ,by the way a commercial rip off
Ashlee
November 26, 2014 at 12:59 pmI’m sorry you feel that way, i’m not trying to claim it at all, it’s just the way I learned it and I made it printable so that anyone who wants to try it can.