About a week ago I received a very large pumpkin from one of my friends.
I’m serious, this thing was HUGE! My friend’s mom lives on a farm and grows a variety of different things, all organic. She always has a lot of extra things around at the end of harvest. It was so nice of her to donate a pumpkin to the BFB cause.
But I wasn’t really sure what to do with such a large squash. I had never had this sort of task ahead of me before.
I figured the best way to make the pumpkin less intimidating was to roast it. Once again, never done this before! But I have roasted butternut squash…I figured it couldn’t be much different from that.
Equipment
First, I went looking for my best tools. I decided on a cleaver (because it’s big), and a carving knife (my sharpest knife).
Then, I laid a damp towel on the counter to help stabilize my cutting board. I had a spoon to scrape out the guts, and bowl to save the seeds.
Pumpkin Dissection
I had a really hard time cutting up my pumpkin.
I was expecting it to be difficult, but this was almost too hard for me to do alone. It took me almost 20 minutes to get my first piece, and 45 minutes to completely cut up and scrape the pumpkin clean.
So please, be very very careful when you are cutting your pumpkin. If it’s huge, ask for help from someone stronger or more comfortable with knives.
And always remember, “a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one!”
Roasting the Pumpkin
Once I finally had my pumpkin pieces; I turned the oven to 400º F, oiled 3 large pans with olive oil, and put the pumpkin in the oven. I didn’t wait for the oven to preheat, I just threw them in.
After about an hour and 10 minutes they came out fork tender, and extremely aromatic. My apartment smelled like pumpkin pie for hours.
Next time I want to roast my pumpkin with the seasonings on it.
Pureeing the Roasted Pumpkin
Once the pumpkin was cool enough to handle, I scooped out as much as I could fit in my blender. I probably could have saved a lot more of the meat. But I didn’t really have anywhere to store that much pumpkin puree.
But you should use what you can! Fresh pumpkin is delicious and versatile.
Once I had my blender filled, I pureed the pumpkin until completely lump free.
You now have a fresh, organic pumpkin puree to use how you like. I recommend checking out a few of these recipes: pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones, or pumpkin butter for some pumpkin inspiration!
Store your pumpkin in a plastic container or mason jar in the refrigerator for about a week.
About bigfatbaker
Wow! Lots of work. If U don’t have a big rubber hammer, put it on your Xmas list. I use mine 4 a multitude of kitchen tasks. It would have been useful with your cleaver to cut thru that huge pumpkin
I definitely could have used something like that…
What are some things that you use it for?
Nice job! This year was the first I roasted my own pumpkin, too. It tastes sooo much fresher, it’s really amazing
I totally agree! It’s going to be hard to ever buy canned pumpkin again.
haha…i adore you and your blog. and congrats on such a hard chore. now even i know to what to do if i buy whole pumpkins.
Thanks! I’m glad you continue to read, that’s so exciting for me! The fresh pumpkin is worth the trouble, so if you are feeling like you need more pumpkin in your life, give it a try!
you do know that pumpkin seeds are an ingredient in many baked stuff and else, right.
Yup! I just haven’t had the chance to do much baking with them yet. And I had planned on making a granola with the ones from this pumpkin, but they ended up getting eaten to quickly!
Wow – I didn’t really ever consider how hard it is to actually get a pumpkin dismantled and such – or that blue pumpkins existed!
This looks like a great idea for getting real pumpkin puree, though. I have this bookmarked for when I’m going to need it here in a few weeks …
Good luck! I was told a large rubber hammer would have been helpful to get my knife to cut through the pumpkin, so if you have something like that, you might want to try it!