Homemade Pumpkin Purée

Do you want to know how to make from-scratch pumpkin purée (and pumpkin pie)?

All of the instructions are in my highlights but I’ll add them here as well. I always start with a Sugar Pie Pumpkin. Not all pumpkins are created equal for homemade purée so I would highly suggest sticking with the Sugar Pie variety so it’s smooth and sweet. The other varieties tend to be stringy and not very sweet flavored.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Carefully cut your pumpkin in half so you have FLAT cut sides. This flat-cut side will seal the cookie sheet, to steam and soften, rather than get crispy edges. Scoop the seeds and strings out. Reserve for toasted pumpkin seeds. (Recipe coming soon.) Sprinkle the flesh with kosher salt, this will help pull the moisture out, making soft flesh and ultimately a very smooth purée. Lay the halves cut side down, again to seal the cookie sheet and create steam under the halves.

Bake for 30 - 45 minutes or until fork-tender. Let the pumpkin halves cool for about an hour or until you can handle them. Scrape all of the flesh off and using your @cuisinart processor, process until it’s smooth. Scrape the sides down a couple of times and rerun until you have a smooth purée. Either use immediately or transfer to a sterile container. It’ll stay good in the fridge for about a week or freeze the purée in 15 oz containers.