All-Natural Pumpkin Puree

Pie pumpkins are on sale at a local store (Woodmans) for only $0.99, so I figured why not try to make some homemade pumpkin puree?

(My recipe is adapted from Alton Brown’s Pumpkin Puree Recipe, which is made with only pumpkin and salt)

Ingredients:

1 small pie pumpkin (3-5 lbs.)

pinch of salt

1/4 C water

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

about 1 in. finger fresh ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash pumpkin thoroughly after removing stem.  Carefully cut pumpkin in half from top to bottom.  Remove seeds and gooey fiber with a large metal spoon.  Set seeds aside for other use (you can roast washed, partially dried seeds sprinkled with salt at 325F on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking oil for about 15 minutes for a crunchy snack or topping). Sprinkle pumpkin halves with salt.  Place the halves flesh side down on a pan lined with parchment paper. Roast in oven for about 45 minutes, or until a knife can easily be placed in and removed from the pumpkin without the flesh sticking to it. Remove from oven. After the pumpkin has cooled down enough to handle (30mins-1hr), remove the flesh from the skin with a spoon. Put cooked pumpkin flesh in a blender (or food processor, if you have one) with water, maple syrup, cinnamon, and ginger. Blend until smooth. Yields about 3-4 cups. Refrigerate up to 1 week. Enjoy in smoothies, with yogurt, or in recipes as a substitute for canned pumpkin puree!