Make fresh pumpkin puree with this recipe and tips - whether you're thinking about eating your Halloween jack-o-lantern or getting ready for the holidays.
Fresh pumpkin puree makes all the difference in holiday recipes. You can even use your jack-o-lantern pumpkin to make fresh pumpkin puree if you like. If you do, you may want to decorate the jack-o-lantern with markers rather than cutting it. The nutrients start to break down fast after cutting.
In the south, jack-o-lantern pumpkins are called cow pumpkins and generally fed to the livestock. Cooking pumpkins are the smaller, darker colored pumpkins that don’t look as pretty.
If you use your jack-o-lantern pumpkin, then increase the spices called for in the recipe. Otherwise, your dish will taste kind of bland.
There are three ways to prepare fresh pumpkin to be used in recipes:
1. Baked Fresh Pumpkin – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and stringy stuff. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil. Brush a little melted butter on the cut edges of the pumpkin. Place the sides cut side down on the cookie sheet. Cook for around an hour or until the pumpkin is soft. Cool. Remove the pumpkin skin. Cut into pieces and blend or put through a food processor until the mixture is smooth like canned pumpkin.
2. Boiled Fresh Pumpkin – Remove the seeds and strings. Peel and cut the pumpkin into chunks. Put pumpkin chunks in a large pan. Cover with water. Bring to a light boil. Cook until tender. Cool. As with the baked method, blend or food process the pumpkin until smooth.
3. Microwaved Fresh Pumpkin – Clean seeds and strings out of pumpkin. Cube with rind on. Place chunks in a microwave safe bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Cook on medium until soft. Check every 5 minutes as microwave times vary. Once chunks are cool, peel off the rind. Blend or food process until smooth just as in the other methods.
If the pumpkin puree looks runny, there are two ways to thicken it up.
How To Thicken Up Fresh Pumpkin Puree
1. Put the pumpkin puree in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Cook until it reaches the consistency desired. This just takes some of the water out of the fresh pumpkin.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Place the strainer in a big bowl. Pour the fresh pumpkin in the strainer. Leave this in the refrigerator over night. The excess liquid will drain off and can be rinsed away the next morning leaving you with thicker pumpkin.
You will probably have more pumpkin than you need for your recipe, unless you buy a really small pumpkin. You can freeze the leftovers. Most recipes seem to call for 2 cups, so just measure out two cup portions and seal in zip lock bags.
Be sure and check out my recipe for making baked pumpkin seeds. No reason to let those seeds go to waste. Plus, they taste good and are good for you.
The copyright of the article Fresh Pumpkin Puree for Recipes in Southern Cuisine is owned by Cyndi Allison. Permission to republish Fresh Pumpkin Puree for Recipes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
This worked great for me! Thanks! The only change I made was to let the
puree sit on the counter(on cheesecloth in a strainer) for about 10 mins to
drain initial water, there was a lot of water!(I used jackolatern pumpkins)
This way the water level never got high enough to reach the strainer(and
soak puree overnight) while in the fridge. This was the
best/clearest/easiest info I found on the net about making AND freezing
puree. I never did this before. It was so much work I'm freezing the puree
to bake with another time.
Oct 27, 2008 12:46 PM
Cyndi Allison
:
Glad it worked well for you and that the directions were easy to follow.
Thank you for the extra tip.
Nov 3, 2008 3:42 PM
Guest
:
Exactly how much extra seasoning is needed when using jack o lantern
pumpkins instead of pie pumpkins?
Nov 3, 2008 4:37 PM
Guest
:
Exactly how much extra seasoning is needed when using jack o lantern
pumpkins instead of pie pumpkins?
Nov 3, 2008 4:48 PM
Cyndi Allison
:
It really depends on the pumpkin and the quality of the flavor. I will go
with heaping teaspoons versus leveled ones in a recipe with cow pumpkins
(what we call jack o lantern pumpkins). Then I taste the pumpkin mix. If
it's still bland, then I'll add just a little more seasoning. Don't overdo
it though, because the seasonings settle and get a little stronger with
time and baking.
Nov 12, 2008 8:43 AM
Guest
:
Thanks for the info - big help! How long can the puree be kept in freezer
and how long for the fridge? Once the puree is made, if a recipe calls for
canned pumpkin and doesn't require baking/cooking at all, do I need to cook
the pumpkin puree I've made? Does boiling or baking it when making the
puree ensure it is thoroughly cooked? Or does this not even matter? And
lastly, do you have a recipe for pumpkin cookies? Your instructions were
so easy to follow! This is the first time I'm using all those pumpkins
brought home from trips to the "Pumpkin Patch" and I'm finding it
to be a lot of fun! We love pumpkin pie and muffins and the seeds too! Now
I guess the only thing left is to see how I do using the fresh pumpkin in
recipes! Thanks again!!
Nov 12, 2008 3:36 PM
Guest
:
Thanks for the info - big help! How long can the puree be kept in freezer
and how long for the fridge? Once the puree is made, if a recipe calls for
canned pumpkin and doesn't require baking/cooking at all, do I need to cook
the pumpkin puree I've made? Does boiling or baking it when making the
puree ensure it is thoroughly cooked? Or does this not even matter? And
lastly, do you have a recipe for pumpkin cookies? Your instructions were
so easy to follow! This is the first time I'm using all those pumpkins
brought home from trips to the "Pumpkin Patch" and I'm finding it
to be a lot of fun! We love pumpkin pie and muffins and the seeds too! Now
I guess the only thing left is to see how I do using the fresh pumpkin in
recipes! Thanks again!!
Nov 12, 2008 4:54 PM
Cyndi Allison
:
I tend to be conservative on keeping foods. I go no more than 3 to 4 days
on puree in the fridge and somewhere in the 4 to 6 month range on puree. It
may keep longer, but I stay in those ranges.
Yes. The pumpkin is
cooked enough for recipes like pumpkin dip which isn't cooked after made.
It's basically the same as solid packed pumpkin in cans - cooked and ready.
If when thawing pumpkin puree, you get extra water, do drain
that off before adding to recipes.
I do have a very good
pumpkin cookie recipe, but I don't think I have that up yet. I'll check. If
it's not up, I'll look for it and get that as soon as I can.
Glad to hear you're having fun with pumpkins. There are so many great
dishes with pumpkin, and the color is really nice.
It only calls for one cup of homemade pumpkin puree
or one cup of canned. If you have a little leftover, this is a great
pumpkin recipe.
The cookies are also very tasty.
Nov 24, 2008 8:43 AM
Guest
:
I have a recipe that calls for 16oz of canned pumpkin,but I want to use
thickened homemade pumpkin puree. Does anyone know about how many cups are
in a can of pumpkin puree? I don't have a scale. Thanks!
Nov 24, 2008 5:53 PM
Cyndi Allison
:
A 16 oz. can of pumpkin would equal to approximately 2 cups of homemade
pumpkin puree.
Oct 1, 2006
