The thought of pumpkins never crossed my mind as a child until October rolled around when costumes, carving and trick-or treating entered the picture. Pumpkins were for Halloween and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t fathom breads, muffins, fritters or soup. The French are aghast at our waste of a good pumpkin – Sacrebleu!
Then there’s fresh and canned… this is a no brainer. If it’s Fall – go for fresh; it’s easy to prepare (you just need some time) and tastes superior to canned. If you’re jonesin’ for pumpkin muffins in June, then go for the canned, unless your thrifty in the food storage arena and have some in the freezer or canned. Living in NYC – this isn’t really an option for me – no space.
For our purposes here, there are two kinds of pumpkins – the large variety for carving and the smaller sugar or “pie” pumpkins. We want the sweet ones here so go for small, they make for good eatin’! The one I recently roasted was sweet enough I could have eaten plain as a side dish.
Pumpkins show up at the markets some time in September and sometimes to March. When picking one out, look for one that is firm, free from blemishes or soft spots and has some weight. I generally find them about 3 lbs, give or take a few ounces.
I prefer to roast rather than boil or microwave – it produces a drier flesh after it’s mashed… which may or may not be an issue depending on what you are making. If you have a particularly juicy pumpkin, strain the cooked flesh with a cheesecloth placed in a mesh strainer before using and save the juice for smoothies or soups.
Roasted Pumpkin:
Wash the skin to remove and dirt and pat dry. Slice open top to bottom making sure you have space and a firm grip. Cut off stem. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and set aside for roasting later. An ice cream scoop works well to get out all the stringy pulp. Place pumpkin halves flesh side down on a foil covered baking pan. Roast at 350 degrees, approx 45 minutes, until fork easily pierces skin. Remove from oven. When cool to touch, flip to flesh side up and allow to cool until it can be easily handled. Remove flesh from skin with a spoon.
