Recipe Friday: Pumpkin

Yesterday I made Butternut Squash Soup and while I was roasting my butternut squash, I decided to roast the pumpkin that's been sitting on my counter for weeks.  I've blogged about pumpkins before, but I'll say again, be sure you're buying pie pumpkins when you're getting one to eat.  These are not the same as the ones you carve!  Pie Pumpkins are smaller and have deeper ridges. They're also generally darker in color than carving pumpkins.

Pie Pumpkins

  Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop our the goop and seeds (set aside) and oil the edges of the pumpkin so it doesn't stick to the pan.  Place face down on a cookie sheet and roast in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until it yields to the touch.  While the pumpkin is cooking, wash those goopy seeds!  Yesterday I filled the sink with water and dumped in the seeds.  I swished them around so he goop fell to the bottom, then scooped out the seeds using a slotted spoon.  I dried them on a dishtowel, the put them on a cookie sheet with about 3 tsp oil (this will depend on the amount of seeds you have.  You just need enough to keep them from sticking to the sheet.)  I like to just add sea salt, but you can add any spices you'd like.  This would be a great time to test out some of those Penzey Spices!  Cajun would good and so would pumpkin pie spice.  Once your pumpkin is soft, scoop it out of the shell and put it in a food processor.  You'll probably need to add a little water to make it nice and smooth, like pudding.  At this point it can be frozen to use in pie or other recipes all through the winter or just eaten as is.  Ellie, Vince and I love pumpkin puree.  We add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and maple syrup. (not all at once, to Ellie's dismay!) I like it on it's own too. It's so much sweeter and creamier than the canned pumpkin you get in the store.

Once you get the pumpkin out of the oven you can pop the seeds in the oven.  I roasted them in a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes, but I've seen recipes where you bake them at a lower temp for longer and a higher temp for less time.  I liked my 300 for 45.  Stir them about twice during the cooking time to toast them evenly on both sides.   Once they're toasted, they're a fantastic, nut free snack to send to school.   The cool thing about seeds is that they're packed full of nutrients.  Think about it, there's enerything you need to make a whole pumpkin, jammed all in one tiny seed.  Plus, it's like a BOGO snack.  Buy a pumpkin, get the seeds for free!

A few years ago, after reading Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Caden decided to dry some seeds and plant them in the spring.  Pumpkins take up a lot of room, but they're super easy to grow.  They were  "Caden's pumpkins" and he was so proud of them.  A fun science lesson that we could eat!