Roast Pumpkin Purée

40,000 words.  I'm almost there!  I've really missed cooking.  Elaborate dishes (blogged or not) and computer games are what I had to give up to find time for NaNo.  It took me a long time to get from 30k to 40k because I cut my thumb badly at work and had to go to the ER to get it patched up.  No stitches, but it hurt a lot and wouldn't stop bleeding without strong pressure for nearly two hours.  Fortunately, I almost never use my left thumb while typing, so I was back at it once the pain became bearable.

I kind of forgot to carve my pumpkin for Halloween.  It sat by the fireplace until I had time to work with it.  I decided it could roast while I sat in the kitchen doing some writing.  (This was before the thumb thing.)

The only ingredient in this is a pumpkin, so I'm going to skip straight to the procedure.

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil to make cleaning easier.

Before and After

2.  Cut open pumpkin and remove stem.  Remove seeds and scrape cavity clean.  You can wash the seeds and make pepitas while the pumpkin is cooking.

3.  Place pumpkin cut-sides down on cookie sheet and roast in oven until fork-tender, about an hour.  Let rest until cool enough to handle with your fingers.

4.  Remove skin by peeling it off with your hands.  If your pumpkin is fully cooked, it will slide right off.  You can simply cut up the roasted pumpkin at this point and use it, or keep going with the purée.  Place pulp in the food processor and pulse until smooth.  Use in recipes as needed.

5.  To store:  It keeps in the fridge for about a week.  For longer, freeze in small batches in jars or plastic baggies.  Do not try to can it.  Even a pressure canner is iffy.  When you defrost it, you'll probably have to leave it in a sieve for an hour or so, as some of the water will have separated out of it.

I got 5 cups out of my pumpkin.  Yield depends on size.

Difficulty rating  π