Here's What To Do With All Those Leftover Pumpkin Guts

Walking through the grocery store during the fall season can feel like you're viewing the world through orange-colored glasses. Everything was once a myriad of vibrant, eye-catching colors, and as the -ber months arrive, the bags, boxes, and bottles all become orange-clad — because they've been pumpkin-fied.

Food companies are nifty in their creative ability to think of how they can get their products to adapt to the pumpkin spice movement. If they can, so can you. When you carve your jack-o-lanterns this season, don't toss those stringy pumpkin guts. There are numerous ways to turn those flavor-packed fibers into other means of imparting a pumpkin's gourd-y taste.

The method to get the most versatile use out of pumpkin guts is by blending it into a purée. The end product is similar to a typical canned pumpkin purée, and from there, you can add it to pumpkin-fy a wide array of dishes. Combine the purée with heavy cream, autumnal spices, and leftover pasta water to create a soothing, creamy pasta sauce. Mix the purée into salted butter, and add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and granulated sugar to create a pumpkin spice butter (not to be confused with pumpkin butter, a spread that can give cocktails the fall treatment).

Instead of blitzing the pumpkin guts into a purée, turn it into a pumpkin-flavored stock, or use them for a homemade vegetable stock along with other vegetables. Like the steps to make a chicken stock, sauté the pumpkin guts in oil, add water, and let it simmer down until the stock is flavorful and ready. This pumpkin stock can be used to infuse its flavor into fall dishes like a butternut squash soup or pumpkin and spice soup. Pumpkin broth can also flavor pumpkin risotto or rice. Cook both in water, finish the cooking in the broth, and the grains will absorb the savory pumpkin flavors. Add sage as an aromatic while the rice or risotto is in the broth to add an herbaceous warmth.

Create a pumpkin-infused simple syrup by simmering one part water with one part sugar. As the simple syrup begins to form, add in strands of the pumpkin guts (about half of the amount of water or sugar will impart a subtle yet noticeable flavor). Use this simple syrup to sweeten fall cocktails or glaze baked goods, such as pumpkin bread.