With the new season of the year, comes lots of fresh fruits and veggies to bake with. Pumpkin being among my favorite. For some reason though, after all the years of using fresh pumpkin, this year I’d forgotten how to bake the pumpkin so I could use it in recipes. Here is what I’ve discovered.
There are a few methods of preparing the pumpkin, with some variations within those methods.
The first method: Baking
There are 2 variations here…probably more but these are what I found.
Baking-preparation1
Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the gooey insides; setting the seeds aside for roasting later. Cut 3 X’s in the top of both halves so as to give the hot air within the pumpkin a place to escape and help with a more even baking. Place the halves open side down in a shallow baking dish with 1/2-inch of water. Bake at 450 degrees F for 55 minutes. Once completely cool, scoop out flesh and either mash or puree.
Baking-preparation2
Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the gooey insides, setting the seeds aside for roasting later. Place the halves open side down in a shallow baking dish. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours. Once completely cool, scoop out flesh and either mash or puree.
The second method: Boiling
Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the gooey insides. (Feel free to set seeds aside to roast later.) Then peel and cut up the pumpkin. Place in a pot, cover with water, then place lid on pot and boil til tender. Let it cool then mash or puree.
Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the gooey insides. (Feel free to set seeds aside to roast later.) Then peel and cut up the pumpkin. Place in a pot, cover with water, then place lid on pot and boil til tender. Let it cool then mash or puree.
The third method: Microwaving
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the gooey insides. (Again, set seeds aside for later roasting.) Microwave for 7 minutes/lb, rotating every so often to promote even cooking. Once cool, puree it.
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the gooey insides. (Again, set seeds aside for later roasting.) Microwave for 7 minutes/lb, rotating every so often to promote even cooking. Once cool, puree it.
I’ve tried both ways of baking. With the first variation, the pumpkin bakes well and has a nice flavor. With the second variation, I wasn’t crazy about the flavor it produced. On the upside, after it had cooled, I went to pick the pumpkin up and the skin came right off-like a shell. Made things a little quicker.
With the boiling, I don’t recommend this method because with boiling you lose some nutritional value. If you don’t mind peeling the pumpkin, you could always steam it instead.
The microwave just seems a little more “hands on” and therefore more inconvenient for anyone with little kids and not a lot of time to spend standing in front of the microwave (because of having to turn it every so often).
With the boiling, I don’t recommend this method because with boiling you lose some nutritional value. If you don’t mind peeling the pumpkin, you could always steam it instead.
The microwave just seems a little more “hands on” and therefore more inconvenient for anyone with little kids and not a lot of time to spend standing in front of the microwave (because of having to turn it every so often).
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