DIY: Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree

I really got carried away seeing all the pumpkin delights all over the internet, blogosphere, pinterest i.e. almost everywhere you look around on the netsphere at this time of the year. I have never made or eaten anything which has pumpkin in it. But looking at these pumpkin creations I got myself buying my first pumpkin ever and waiting to make something delightful out of that.

For this reason, I love the fact that I have a blog which gives me such adventures and I often find myself in unfamiliar territory experimenting with some never tried ingredients, experimenting some never tried tastes and also knowing different cultures, cuisines. This is all so incredible.

Here in India, we don't get canned pumpkin puree. But that did not lower my spirits in any manner whatsoever. Hence, this is gonna be another DIY project from scratch and I am excited!

There are different ways to prepare pumpkin puree at home. For my first, I prepared the pumpkin puree by roasting the pumpkin. It's great to make this pumpkin puree recipe ahead and freeze so that you’ll have plenty on hand to use in any pumpkin delight you would like to make.

As a general rule, 3 pounds of fresh pumpkin will yield about 3 cups of mashed and cooked pumpkin.

Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

Here's what you would need to make Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

1.5 Kg. Pumpkin
Olive oil 1 cup water
(Source: thegreendaily.com)

Here's how you can make Roasted Pumpkin Puree:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Rinse the pumpkin under cool water to rid the skin of any residual dirt and dry well with a clean towel.

3. Cut the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and stringy fibers with a metal spoon or ice cream scoop. Save the seeds for toasting, if you like, and discard the innards.

4. Rub the cut surfaces with oil. Place them, cut side down, in a roasting pan and add 1 cup of water to the pan.

5. Bake in the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife. This takes approximately 90 minutes.

6. When tender, remove the pumpkin halves from the oven and place on a flat surface to cool.

7. Once cool enough to handle, but not cold, scoop out the pumpkin flesh.

8. Puree the pumpkin in a food processor or with a hand held blender. 

9. Pumpkin flesh holds a lot of moisture. Line a sieve or fine mesh colander with paper towel or a coffee filter and set over a deep bowl. Let drain for about 2 hours and stir occasionally.

To Freeze:

Once the puree has cooled entirely, place in freezer containers or ice cube trays. Leave some room at the top (headspace) of the containers or individual ice cube compartments. Label, date and freeze the puree for future use.