The fall – the season where canned food seems to reign supreme. So many pumpkin recipes – pies, soups, breads, pancakes, all calling for canned pumpkin when we’re all surrounded – inundated even – with fresh ones. Why? Take back the pumpkin!
Pumpkins are one of the oldest known fruits originating in Northern America (yes, they are fruits – the only fruit of the gourd family) – pumpkins seeds have been found that date all the way back to 5000 BCE and before. They are original American cuisine, for really real. Natives of this land used the seeds for food and medicine. Early colonists used to fill the pumpkins with milk, spice, and honey, and bake them in hot ashes for old school style pumpkin pies.
Cooking with an actual pumpkin seems to be becoming something of a lost art, so with that in mind – here are five ways to use a pumpkin (Disclaimer: not all of them involve cooking).
1 – Bake your pumpkins. This is probably my favorite/easiest method of getting some fresh pumpkin puree. Chop the top, cut in half, and remove seeds. Cut into quarters. Set seeds aside for toasting. Pre-heat oven to 400 fahrenheit. Bake pumpkins for about an hour. Remove from the oven and let cool, then scrape skins off and puree pumpkin flesh in blender or food processor.
The puree can be kept fresh for use for a few days, or can be frozen for MONTHS.
2 – Boiling your pumpkins. Cut, open up, and remove seeds and strings. Cube into small pieces and drop into a pot of lightly boiling water. Boil under tender, probably about 20 minutes or so depending on your quantity and boil. Remove, strain, let cool, skin and puree as in the baking option.
Pumpkins are something like 80% water, so if your puree comes out a little too liquidy, just cook it up in a skillet for a few minutes to cook off some water. I’ve never really had a problem with this, though.
3 – Microwave your pumpkins. Of course, the microwave is the quickest option. As with baking or boiling, remove seeds and strings. Cut into cubes. Put into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cook on medium power until soft, again depending on quantity of pumpkin. Check it ever 3-4 minutes or so. Let cool, remove skin, and puree.
These methods of obtaining real fresh pumpkin puree are terribly simple, and the difference in flavor is unquestionable. Fresh pumpkin puree can be used in pies, soups, breads, pancakes, and more.
4 – Use as a soup bowl or crock pot. Serving pumpkin soup? Serve it in a pumpkin! It’s adorable and as if they are made for the job. Pumpkins can also be used as a crock pot, check out this Ruth Reichl recipe for cheesy bread in a pumpkin from StreamingGourmet.
5 – Pumpkin candy. Okay, admittedly, I have yet to make this one myself but I plan to this year before the season is up. There is an ancient Pueblo recipe for pumpkin candy which is essentially candied strips of pumpkin. Perhaps a slightly healthier alternative to those bowls full of Snickers, maybe?
Extra Credit – SMASH IT! I’m almost 30 and I’m not sure I’ll ever outgrow the fun of a good pumpkin smashing. Some farms have fall harvest festivals with pumpkin cannons. Want.
Want to be productive with the remains? Bury them in a garden. Pumpkins are very nutrient dense and will do great things for your soil.
I hope, more than the others perhaps, that suggestions 1, 2, and 3 will not fall on deaf ears. If you don’t feel like you’ve got an extra hour to add to your dinner cooking time (who does?) – spend a Sunday afternoon and bake a couple pumpkins and freeze the puree. Your house will smell AMAZING all night, and the yield from even just a few pumpkins is quite high – you’ll be pleasantly surprised. And you can make enough puree in one afternoon to last through the whole season if you freeze it.
So what do you think? Gonna give it a try? Got any other ideas for how to use these wonderful, bright orange globes we see everywhere in October?
