Introduction:
It is once again Autumn and this means pumpkin flavored foods of all kinds (especially baked). The challenge living in France is that canned pumpkin does not exist, but wedges of fresh pumpkin like the one in Figure 1. are sold everywhere.
My current experiment is determining how to turn fresh pumpkin into a viable pumpkin puree for soups and baked goods. There are a variety of methods proposed: boiling, baking, and microwaving. Trial 1. is boiling.
Procedure:
- Peel pumpkin and chop into approx 1 inch/3 cm cubes. See Figure 2.
- Place in pot of boiling water. Pumpkin will float
- Boil until soft
- drain and cool
- mash/blend using a potato masher or blender. See Figure 3.
Figure 2. Peel and chop into cubes.
Figure 3. Mash/Blend boiled pumpkin
The boiling went much faster than I expected (15-ish minutes). The pumpkin was more difficult to drain than I anticipated. It worked out because I was making soup (even so the soup was a bit watery), but next time I would be sure to drain the cooked pumpkin more. Perhaps using cheese cloth and allowing more time post-boil would produce a better puree.
I will report on my future findings.
