Homemade pumpkin purée is easy to make. The better your pumpkin (or squash), the better your pie (or pumpkin bread, etc.) will be. Smaller pie pumpkins generally have sweeter flesh, and many varieties of winter squash make excellent sweet purées.
According to Amy Goldman, author of The Compleat Squash, the Cucurbita pepo variety known as ‘Winter Luxury Pie’ makes a smooth and velvety pumpkin custard. “When cut into a wedge on a plate, it holds its shape, color and flavor long after the competition has keeled over and died,” she says.
Ingredients
1 whole pie pumpkin
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp knife, hack the pumpkin into several large pieces. Don’t bother removing the seeds, because baking the pumpkin will make them easier to remove later. Place the pieces on a jellyroll pan cut-side down. Bake for 30 minutes to an hour. You’ll know the pumpkin is ready when its flesh pierces easily and has begun to slouch.
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We've always steamed pumpkin before pureeing and freezing. Would roasting improve its flavor?