’tis the Season to Bake a Pumpkin
So you’ve been eating local all summer… salads, sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant… These are easy. Now that autumn is here, the real challenge begins – cooking pumpkins & squash. Most daunting are the monster pumpkins & squash, like the blue hubbards and the orange cinderellas. If you take on the pumpkin challenge this season you will be rewarded with delicious, local pumpkin all winter.
Step #1: Choose a beauty. Pie pumpkins are typically small, just 2 – 3 pounds. Squash can be much larger and still be tasty. Pictured is the Cinderella pumpkin. This one weighed 12#. Get the most out of it by using it for decoration for a few weeks!
Step #2: Get out a large cutting board and rinse the pumpkin.
Step #3: Cut off the top.
Step #4: Remove the seeds & guts. Roast the seeds if you like.
Step #5: Bake – you may need to use the lowest rack. Pumpkins are quite watery when they bake, so put it on a large sheet with a rim.
Step #6: The pumpkin is done when you are able to pierce the pumpkin easily with a knife. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool until you can easily handle it. Scoop the pumpkin into the food processor.
Step #7: Use puree immediately or bag and freeze. Be sure to label and date!
Now, you are ready to make pumpkin soup, pie, bread… anything you like!
Elizabeth Almeida is founder, head farmer, chief weeder, and top taster at organic vegetable farm Fat Moon in Westford. She also plans healthy living events for the farm through the Center for Healthy Living and Learning. Foodie magazines will give you the scoop on the tastiest and trendiest foods to eat, but Elizabeth will give you the dirt on food - how it is grown, what is good to eat, and maybe some insights into the giant food system that gets us whatever we want to eat in every season. Her passion and her businesses help folks untangle their way to health!
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