Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Wash and dry your sugar pumpkin. Then cut the stem and bottom off. Cut it in half horizontally and clean out the seeds (and either toss them or roast for snacks). Place each half cut side down in a 9″x13″ glass baking dish and pour water in the bottom until it comes up the side of the pumpkin halves by 1/4-1/2″.

3. Cover the dish with parchment paper followed by aluminum foil and bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until the flesh is completely soft. Take out of oven, uncover the dish and cool for 10 minutes. Next take pumpkin (carefully) out of water and dish and place it on a cutting board to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. When your pumpkin is cooled completely, carefully remove flesh (without getting any shell) by scraping the flesh into a large bowl with a spoon, fork, or better yet a grapefruit spoon! Next, puree that stuff! You can either use a blender, a hand mixer, food processor or whatever you want. Just make sure your pumpkin is pureed into a nice smooth consistency. I used my handy food processor which did the job in about 30 seconds!

Now you’re ready to make that pumpkin pie!

Notes:
– You can use the puree right away.
– You can place it in an airtight container and store in the fridge (for up to 3 days).
– Or you can place it in a freezer zipper bag portioned out and frozen for up to a month!
– Leftovers taste wonderful in a pumpkin cream sauce for pasta, baked into a casserole, or used in any other dessert!