Here's How You Can Make Pumpkin Puree From Scratch

Every fall, two seemingly contradictory things happen. Grocery stores fill up with pumpkins — not just the jack-o'-lantern kind, but the kind labeled as sugar or pie pumpkins — while at the same time, some online home cooks begin loudly proclaiming that you should never, ever make homemade pumpkin purée since the canned kind is sooo much better. Is that true? No, of course it isn't. Canned is more convenient, yes, but there's just something so satisfying about DIY pumpkin purée. What's more, you can first use the pumpkin for decorative purposes (draw a face on it with a Sharpie) and cook it once the holiday is over.

Start by chopping the pumpkin in half, then scoop out the guts. (Brine the seeds in beer before toasting them as a tasty lagniappe.) Cover each half with foil, bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour or so until soft, then let the pumpkin cool. Once it's not too hot to handle, pull off the peel (this is why it doesn't matter if you draw on it) and purée the cooked flesh in a food processor or blender. If you'll be using it for baking as opposed to soup-making, you should also strain it to remove any excess moisture. The biggest complaint canned pumpkin proponents seem to have about homemade purée is that it can be watery, but this is nothing that a colander can't fix. It's also not exclusive to fresh pumpkin, since some brands of the canned stuff are pretty watery, too.

If you're buying a pumpkin with the express purpose of puréeing it for cooking purposes, then a sugar pumpkin is the way to go. These smaller pumpkins are easier to work with, plus they tend to be less watery and have more flavor. Still, if you hate to see anything go to waste, there's no reason you can't repurpose a jack-o'-lantern into something edible, as well. Well, with one caveat, that is. If you've carved your jack-o'-lantern well before Halloween and it's starting to turn soft, the flavor is likely to be subpar and it's possible there may be a touch of rot creeping in. If you carve your pumpkin on the day itself, though, it will still be fresh enough for cooking after the trick-or-treaters have packed it in. You can also stick it in the fridge and roast it the next day.

Wash the jack-o'-lantern before cooking, then cut it into pieces and trim off any dried-out bits of flesh around the eyes and mouth holes. Bake the pumpkin skin-side up at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour or until you can easily stick a fork in it. Cool, skin, blend, and strain as above. Admittedly, the purée won't be quite as smooth and sweet as the kind from a sugar pumpkin so it might not be optimal for pie-baking, but it will work just fine in homemade pumpkin bread, muffins, or our curry-spiced pumpkin soup.