Here is a simple step by step tutorial showing you how to roast a whole pumpkin and how to make pumpkin puree! Perfect for pies, breads, muffins and all of your autumn pumpkin recipes!
Welcome to pumpkin week!! Yes, seriously. It's a week with ALLTHEPUMPKINTHINGS which is actually just me showcasing my love for my favourite vegetable!! I know it's more of an autumn/fall thing but we had such a mild autumn that I wasn't ready for cosy things before we went on our trip so now that we're back, and it's cold and we're ready to start getting excited about spicy smells and hot bowls of warming goodness, let's do pumpkin!
But first, how was your weekend? I spent a pretty good part of mine snuggling our 6 week old niece. She could not be any cuter if she tried! We also spent a bit of time replanting our polytunnel vege garden...somebody's puppies got in there while we were away and had a bit of fun digging some holes...big ones! It's lucky they're so cute otherwise they would have been in big trouble!
Ok, time for pumpkin! I know I'm only going to appeal to about 50% of people when I announce how firmly I sit in team "pumpkin is sweet & savoury". But really...pie - yes, granola - yes, muffins - yes, pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Yes. And then...roast pumpkin, pumpkin lasagne, pumpkin soup, pumpkin salad. Yes, yes, yes and yes. Pumpkin in everything.
I had a conversation with a girl I work with the other day (hey Emma!) about how I think pumpkin is the most versatile vegetable in terms of how many different things it can go in - both sweet & savoury. She didn't think so and said she was going to come back to me when she had thought of a better one. I'm still waiting Emma, which means pumpkin wins.
So if we're going to be making pumpkin everything, we need to know how to deal with these beauties. Because as pretty as they are, they can be kind of a pain to prepare. Giant pumpkin + small knife = big problem. And do you peel them? Boil, bake, roast? And then there are the seeds....gah!
Chill out...we've got this. Let's learn how to roast a whole pumpkin and make pumpkin puree...with minimum fuss!
The first thing you're going to need is a good knife. Like, a really good one. And preferably one that is about as big as the pumpkin you are trying to cut. Because there is no way that little paring knife is going to take on that huge pumpkin. It's just maths.
Everybody, grab your pumpkins. Let's roast!
You can use any kind of pumpkin you like here. I was super rebellious and used 3 different kinds of pumpkin - buttercup, Baby Bear (the cute little orange one) and a squash.
Give the pumpkin a bit of a wash - we're cooking it with the skin on, so give it a rinse. Don't be over the top, just remove any dirt.
Next, cut that pumpkin. Place it on a chopping board and if possible, on a surface lower than your bench...you may need to get some force behind it and trying to put force down when you're up on your tippy toes is not an easy feat. I have a little pull out shelf in my bench which I use...super handy. Otherwise, take it to the kitchen table.
Cut it in half and then scoop out the seeds and fleshy bits in the center. I always intend to do something with the seeds and never get around to it. Except when I kept a few and planted them - they actually grew great pumpkins! So even if you're not going to be fancy and cook them for snacks, they're worth saving to grow more pumpkins! Wash them, dry them out and throw them in the ground in spring.
Cut the pumpkin halves into smaller pieces, trying to keep them all roughly the same size and place them in a roasting dish. At this stage, if you are just wanting roast pumpkin to have with your dinner, drizzle them in a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast for about 50 minutes, uncovered, until the pumpkin is soft. We're going to carry on and make pumpkin puree so we will place them in the roasting dish, no oil, salt or anything and cover the pan in tinfoil. I cover the pan in tinfoil so that you don't get the crispy skin on top - this way the puree is much smoother.
Roast at 200°C for about 50 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 45 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Once you can handle the pumpkin, just scoop the flesh out of the skin into a bowl. Repeat with all pieces of pumpkin and discard the skin.
Mash the pumpkin using a potato masher or a stick mixer if you want a smoother consistency or even run it through the food processor.
Homemade pumpkin puree! Ready to use in anything at all. It can be stored in the fridge for 1 week or divided, put in snaplock bags and frozen for when you need pumpkin in a hurry. But keep this lot out - you're going to need it this week!
Pumpkin spice granola & my favourite pumpkin soup recipe coming this week as well as other goodies in a bit of a round-up of all my favourite pumpkin recipes from around the web...yay for pumpkin everything!!
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How to roast a whole pumpkin (homemade pumpkin puree)
Ingredients
- Pumpkins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Give the pumpkin a bit of a wash to remove any dirt.
- Cut the pumpkins in half and scoop out the seeds and fleshy bits in the center.
- Cut the pumpkin halves into quarters so you are left with 8 pieces and place them in a roasting dish.
- At this stage, if you are just wanting roast pumpkin to have with your dinner, drizzle them in a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast for about 50 minutes, uncovered, until the pumpkin is soft.
- To make pumpkin puree, place them in the roasting dish, with no oil or salt and cover the pan in tinfoil.
- Roast for about 50 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 45 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
- Once you can handle the pumpkin, scoop the flesh out of the skin into a bowl. Repeat with all pieces of pumpkin and discard the skin.
- Mash the pumpkin using a potato masher or a stick mixer if you want a smoother consistency or even run it through the food processor.
- Store in the fridge for 1 week or freeze portions in snaplock bags.
- Use in any recipe that calls for pumpkin puree!
Jenn says
Goodness, as an ex-pat Canadian living in NZ for the past 22 years, I've never seen orange pumpkins! I'm wanting to make some pumpkin puree for cakes muffins etc, and was thinking of using crown pumpkin. Would that work? I guess I could google orange pumpkin New Zealand to see if I could find the original North American style 🙂
Laura says
Any pumpkin works! These orange pumpkins were a variety I grew one year and they were so cool!
Ellen says
Hey there pumpkin person!! Love it!!
I love pumpkin also, I fact today I did a big one, all done, so I wanted to make sure what to do after I cleaned it out and found you.
It’s been a while since I’ve done it, so thank you for your help!!
Happy pumpkins!! Best Ellen