1culinary pumpkinwashed and cut down the middle and seeded
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the seeded and cut pumpkin, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Poke the skin side with a fork in several places on both pieces. Place in the oven and roast until soft (a fork should go through the skin and flesh with ease once it’s done). The length of time will vary according to the size of the pumpkin.
Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a fine sieve/strainer set over a bowl.
Very gently turn over and stir the pumpkin to drain some of the excess water out. Once it looks fairly dry and isn’t dripping anymore, place the pumpkin into a food processor and process until smooth.
Fresh pumpkin purée will be much looser than concentrated canned pumpkin. Some of the liquid may need to be strained off or evaporated before it can be used for baking, where the balance between wet and dry ingredients is critical. If the puree still has too much water, line a strainer with several layers of cheesecloth, set over a bowl and add cooled purée. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight and let the water drip out of the purée.
Notes
Fresh pumpkin purée can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 5 months. Defrost in the refrigerator the day before using and drain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer, in the refrigerator, after defrosting.