How to Make Roasted Pumpkin Puree

This stuff will take the place of the canned pumpkin that you usually buy this time of year and it also solves another problem.

Considering Christmas is right around the corner if we are to believe the retailers that have had Christmas merchandise up since before Halloween, there is not really much you can do with your leftover uncarved pumpkins except roast them. So, use this recipe now to stock up on enough pumpkin puree to last you throughout the year.

First gather up the smallish uncarved pumpkins from your porch. Now would also be a good time to come up with an alibi for where you were when the smallish pumpkins went missing from said porch.

Large ones would probably work too, but remember, these will have to fit into your oven on baking sheets. And, they are slippery buggers to cut, so the smaller, the better. (And, I'm guessing you would need an even more elaborate alibi if the large pumpkins went missing. I'm just sayin'.)

Next, cut off the tops, quarter them, scoop out the seeds, and bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. They should look like this (or thereabouts) when finished:

Wait for them to cool and then peel off the pumpkin skin like so:

You'll notice that the pumpkin on the right is still largely intact after removing the peel and the pumpkin on the left nearly disintegrated. That is okay. In fact, since you will be turning them to mush anyway, you should prefer the pumpkin that disintegrates.

Place chunks of pumpkin in your Cuisinart food processor and give it a whirl:

Process until the pumpkin is a smooth and creamy consistency. If necessary, add water a few tablespoons at a time to obtain desired consistency.

Once all of the pumpkin is processed, gather a 1 cup measure, sandwich sized plastic bags, a cup or glass, a spoon, and a permanent marker.

Now, I'm going to be honest with you, the first time I ever roasted pumpkin, I was ill prepared. I did not have small freezer bags, so I used regular sandwich sized plastic bags and froze those . . . and I did not have any problems. Because you are only freezing the pumpkin in one cup increments, I find them to be the perfect size. But, don't be like me, for goodness sake, prepare yourself! :-)

Anyhoot, to aid in getting the pumpkin into the bag, place a sandwich bag into a cup or glass and fold the top of the bag down around the rim. This will allow the bag to stand up while you are holding the measuring cup with one hand and spooning pumpkin into the bag with the other hand.

Fill the measuring cup with pumpkin and then fill the bag. Zip the bag nearly shut, then flatten and finish zipping. Continue until you have run out of pumpkin. Each bag should have one cup of pumpkin, with the last bag having whatever amount is left. (My last bag had 1 1/2 cups.)

Label each bag, then place them flat in the freezer to freeze. Thaw before using in your favorite recipe that calls for canned pumpkin.

Oh, Donna, your freezer labels are so fancy! Why, thank you.

If this recipe sounds up your alley, then make sure to check out all of our recipes that include roasted pumpkin puree:

Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
Pumpkin Muffins
Super Moist Pumpkin Bread

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