Homemade Pumpkin Purée

How many of us throw out our pumpkin decorations and turn around and purchase pumpkin purée for our holiday recipes? I used to be one of those people. It wasn’t until I started being more considerate of my waste that I started realizing that so many of the things I was wasting my money on, I could easily make myself!

Pumpkin purée is SO easy to make. It’s also so much cheaper than buying the stuff pre-made. Aside from the waste reduction, the money savings, or bridging that gap between holiday decoration and pie, the best part of all is having your home smell like roasted pumpkin all day.

When choosing your pumpkins, choose the ones labeled for cooking. Though you can cook with “carving” pumpkins, they tend to not be as tasty and less meaty. Because of this, I opt to decorate with pumpkins grown for cooking.

Start by cutting the top off of the pumpkin and then cutting it into smaller pieces. Next, pop the stem off of the top – we will be baking this part as well. No waste here!

Scoop out the seeds and insides. Remember to save the seeds! These can be roasted and eaten as a snack!

Place pumpkin pieces onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until they become fork tender.

Allow the pumpkin to cool completely, then scoop out the flesh and put it into a food processor. Blend until smooth. I personally blend it in two batches as to not fill the food processor too full.

And there you have it. Easy, right? Now you can make those pies, dips, cakes, soups, or in my case – baby food – without letting those pumpkin decorations rot on your front porch until they disappear.