The Great Pumpkin! …And How to Cook One!
Fall is here and so are the pumpkins. At our house pumpkins are much more than just fall décor or jack o lanterns. Yes, we make pies from them but so much more. Paleo pumpkins pancakes, muffins, smoothies just to name a few. I will do some future articles with those recipes but for now we must start with the basics.
How to prepare a pumpkin!
There are many ways to cook/prepare a pumpkin but I will mostly speak about the method that I like to use. The oven! There are a few reasons why I like the oven method. One being that its easy and once its in the oven I can go about my day doing other things. I don’t have to watch it closely and its hard to overcook it. Also in the fall the weather is generally chilly so I love to have the oven turned on to take the chill out of the air. (I know, I know, the furnace will do the same thing. I like to hold out on turning it on because then I have to admit that the cold is here to stay for awhile.)
We grow our own pumpkins but if you don’t and want one they are easy find in the fall. Although, if healthy organic produce is important to you, make sure you are asking your farmer/grower if their pumpkins have been sprayed.
Are all pumpkins created equal?! Well, no they are not. There are pumpkins that are grown specifically for jack o lanterns and pumpkins for eating. The pumpkins grown for eating are called pie or sugar pumpkins and are much smaller. Pie or sugar pumpkins have a much smoother “meat” in the walls of them. A jack o lantern pumpkin is stringy and strandy in the inside when cooked.
Oven method for cooking a pumpkin.
Wash the outside of your pumpkin with warm water. You do not need to use soap. With a sharp knife, cut your pumpkin in half. Take a spoon and scoop out the “guts” I often save the seeds and roast them for eating too. I will also do a future article on that.
Once the walls of the pumpkin looks clean of loose goo then its ready to bake. Place your two pumpkin halves in a large baking dish face up. Put 2 to 3 cups of water in the bottom of your pan to help prevent it from drying out. PLACE A COVER ON YOUR DISH.
Put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Test it periodically with a fork to check for doneness. It will feel soft when done. When it is done, let it cool on the counter or stovetop.
(Pictured below is a picture of the cooked pumpkin to compare with the above picture of the uncooked pumpkin before it went in the oven.)
Once cooled, take a spoon and spoon out the pumpkin and discard the peeling.
Some methods will tell you to puree it but my pumpkins always come out of the shell in a very smooth consistency so I don’t do anything further with it. If you plan to use the pumpkin within a week you can place it in a bowl with a lid and refrigerate it. If you would like to put some away for the winter, you can freeze it or can it. I put mine in quart freezer bags once it is cooled and freeze if its more than I am going to use right away. After putting your pumpkin puree in freezer bags be sure to squish all of the air out of the bags before zipping them shut.
Other methods of cooking a pumpkin are steaming, microwaving and pressure cooking. Why would one want to eat pumpkin?! Plenty of great reasons!
About Author
Shodi Moris | Website | Twitter
“Earth Girl” Shodi shares her knowledge and experiences blending a modern family life with simple back-to-nature self-sustaining practices. Many things she learned and took for granted as a girl growing up, but now appreciates more than ever.