Recipe Tuesday – cooking a pumpkin!

Okay, I know that most of you (myself included) just buy canned pumpkin already done.  But if you should happen to come into possession of a pie pumpkin, the effort it takes really makes a tasty difference!

I will admit here that I never do this.  John always does the pumpkins, but I happily consume the end result 😀

You can actually cook the pumpkin in different ways: Microwave, steaming, or pressure cooker.  John decided to do the microwave since more people have one of those than a pressure cooker.

Find yourself a large knife and get ready:

Cut the pumpkin in half:

Remove the seeds.  An ice cream scoop works really well for this:

Once the seeds are removed, cut the pumpkin up into wedges to fit into a microwave safe bowl:

Put water in the bottom of the bowl, maybe 1/4 cup or so and cover with plastic wrap:

Put in the microwave and cook on high.  This pumpkin was kind of thick and took about 20 minutes.  This is why the pressure cooker is great, because it is much faster.

When the pumpkin is soft and tender, let it cool for a bit before handling.  Then scoop out the cooked pumpkin from the shell. The same ice cream scoop still works pretty good:

You can use the pumpkin at this point, or you can make it like the canned stuff by putting it in a bowl and applying the spurs to it.

You can also use a food processor for this part if you want.

Beautiful, fresh pumpkiny goodness!

This can be used like any pumpkin puree – like in a pie:

Or pumpkin custard oats:

Give it a shot sometime.  It’s not so hard! 😀

18 thoughts on “Recipe Tuesday – cooking a pumpkin!”

  4. Cilla

    We don’t get canned pumpkin puree here (not that I’ve ever seen), so I have to nuke for pumpkin puree on a regular basis. I do prefer the flavour of roasted pumpkin puree, but often I don’t have time to make it that way.

    Yummy looking pumpkin oats.
    .-= Cilla´s last blog ..Tastes of Tuesday =-.

  8. debby

    You left out the first instruction: find a man to cut the ding dang pumpkin in half LOL! I cooked one already, and have another sitting on the counter to cook, but I am avoiding it because it is so hard to cut in half. I just put the two halves in the oven on a cookie sheet and roast them (no water.) I do like to spice up the pumpkin seeds and roast them too–yumm.
    .-= debby´s last blog ..I Am More Than My Body =-.

  10. Amy

    I always have to cook pumpkin from fresh because they don’t sell canned here in Belgium. My favorite way to do it is to roast it in the oven at 350 for about an hour or until the flesh is soft. Then I do the same thing as you – scoop out the flesh and mash it, and it goes in my freezer for baking or soups. Yum!
    .-= Amy´s last blog ..Day of Thanks 12- High and Dry =-.

  12. zerrin

    Love the idea of steaming pumpkin in microwave. Never tried it before, I generally cook it in a pot. Thanks for the idea! And you make me crave for pumpkin pie right now.

  17. Joanne

    I did the pumpkin just the other night. I left it whole after “gutting” it and roasted it on low heat all afternoon. I filled it with lentil soup for dinner. To be posted soon 🙂

    I love the way you did it and you added the fresh puree in your oats. Wonderful idea.
    .-= Joanne´s last blog ..The First Brick and Apple Almond Crumb Pie =-.

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