Winter Luxury Pumpkin……Homemade Pumpkin Puree

I’ve put it off long enough. It is time to make pumpkin puree. This should be my last preserving project of our bountiful harvest this year.

Last year I grew Winter Luxury Pumpkins for the first time. My friend Bryn gave us a start and out of it came three pumpkins. Cute little things. With those few pumpkins I made three pumpkin pies. TO DIE FOR PUMPKIN PIES!!

Winter Luxury Pumpkin is an heirloom pumpkin developed by a farmer whose name, sadly, was not preserved.  Johnson & Stokes acquired the rights to it and released it in 1893. It is considered an heirloom pumpkin. Interestingly, the original Winter Luxury Pumpkin had a pale yellow flesh. Ray W. and Edward E. Gill, of the Gill Brothers Seed Company in Portland, Oregon, released an improved variety (the one we know today) in 1917.

A Winter Luxury Pumpkin weighs between 5 – 7 pounds. It has thick flesh and a small seed cavity. The flesh is known for its outstanding sweet flavor and silky smooth texture. The skin is covered in a fine white netting. Similar to the rind of a cantaloupe but more delicate.

Many pumpkin pie contests have been won because of Winter Luxury Pumpkins. But she isn’t just good for pumpkin pie. Try her in cheesecake, soup, puddings, muffins, breads, cookies, pasta sauces, smoothies and pancakes.

Did you know that pumpkin is a healthy food choice? Yup! One cup of pumpkin puree/mashed supplies you with between 150% to over 200% of your daily Vitamin A. It also is a great source of potassium, fiber, beta carotene, and vitamin C. Isn’t she wonderful!

She has a flaw.

She doesn’t store well. As a matter of fact, it is unlikely she will last until Thanksgiving. What? How then am I to make Thanksgiving or even Christmas pumpkin pies out of her????

That is what I’m here to show you. The very easy process of taking all that delicious flesh and preserving it for pumpkin pies etc. all year long.

I use a temperature of 350° to bake the whole pumpkin.

A very important first step is to puncture the pumpkin a few times. Have you ever seen a baking potato explode in the oven? I don’t think any of us want to witness a pumpkin explosion in the oven.

You will need to bake for about an hour. I needed an additional 10 minutes. This is what it looked like after 70 minutes in the oven.

I let it sit for two hours so it would be cool enough to get my hands into….literally. It collapses even more as it cools.

Cut off the top of the cooked pumpkin.

Ooooo. Look at the lovely insides. Do you see all the juice? You really want to scoop out the seeds by hand. It helps to be able to feel if there are any more seeds. You don’t want to have to be picking out seed pieces after you puree it. Not that I would know….just guessing.

Grab a big spoon and start scraping out all that lovely flesh.

Here is the flesh from two pumpkins. It might look stringy but it isn’t. At this point you could just stir it up and it would be smooth.

Since I have nearly 30 pumpkins to do I’m going to rely on a food processor to do the work more quickly.

I chose to pack as I go. I would puree a large amount and then weigh it out. I packed it into 15 ounce amounts. To pack it I use quart size freezer bags and my digital scale. No digital scale? No problem. 15 ounces is 1 3/4 cups.

I fold the top of the bag over so I don’t get the “zipper” all dirty. Because I only have two hands, I put the bag into a quart size glass measuring cup. It acts like another pair of hands.

Then I fill the bag.

Here is my end product. This is enough to make one pumpkin pie. One glorious pumpkin pie.

As always, homemade takes more work/time. But it tastes so much better, and is better for you. If you grow your own it is practically free.

The flesh from two pumpkins made enough puree for EIGHT pies.

If you live near me I’ll give you a pumpkin. If you don’t live near me….I’m sorry.

Here’s looking forward to pies….many pies.

Have a great day!
Karen