Roasting Pumpkins!

Hey there trusty blogging pals! Sorry for the absence (and the corny return). I've still been baking up a storm and just haven't been updating! Bad Chef. I figured with the holidays knock, knock, knockin' on our doors, it was time to get back into the swing of all food blogging things!!

Today, I decided roasting pumpkins was a good jumping off point! Why you may ask? Well, tis the season my dear bloggers, tis the season. When you roast your own pumpkins imagine all the possibilities! From the expected pumpkin pie, to the unexpected cookies, scones, pumpkin dog treats and everything in between!! Speaking of those furry friends, have you ever tried just putting some pumpkin puree mixed with your dogs dry food? My puppers, Layla and Triton, really enjoy it and they think they are being spoiled! Little do they know that it is a really good boost to their digestive track! And much better than the pumpkin muffins that Layla ate off our counter 2 years ago! That naulty dog. Get the pun? :)

So to start off with roasting pumpkins, you are going to need some pumpkins! Whoa, revolutationary I know! Now, don't go thinking you can take that jack o'lantern off your porch, roast and eat it! Them aren't for eating friends, strictly carving!! If you aren't sure what pumpkins are good for eating, just ask your produce clerk. The ones I am familiar with are cinderalla and sugar pumpkins, the ones you generally find at your grocery store with the squash are sugar pumpkins.

The Cast:
Roasting pan or casserole dish
roasting pan lid or aluminum foil
food processor/blender/good 'ole ingenuity
metal spoon
knives
cutting board

The Ingredients:
Pumpkin
water

Procedure:
This is really quite simple! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and pour water into the bottom of your roasting pan or casserole dish. I add enough water until the bottom is just covered, you don't want them going for a swim.

After you fill your pan with water you are going to cut your pumpkins in halve, I had the easiest time cutting them horizontally. Once you are inside scoop out the fiberous strings and the pumpkin seeds with a metal spoon. You can save the seeds to roast, they make some good eating!

Now place your pumpkin flesh side down in the water, you want the skins sticking up out of the pan. You are going to bake the pumpkins for an hour and a half in your oven.

When you bring out the pumpkins be smart and open the door and move away! When you have water in the oven, it tends to get steamy in there! The worst burn you will ever have comes from steam and you are the least likely to know it has happened until it is too late! So be careful friends!

After you are finished roasting the pumpkin let it sit until you are able to pick it up. In other words, you are going to be handling the pumpkin so let it sit for probably at least an hour before attempting to handle it.

Once the pumpkin has cooled take a metal spoon and start scooping out, it will be really soft and it should be really easy to get the pumpkin out. If it isn't you may want to stick it back in the oven for a couple minutes.

 

After you hollow out the pumpkin, go ahead and puree it in your processor, blender or if you have neither it is really easy to just mash it like a potato. 

If you are so inclined, you can keep the hollowed out pumpkin skin and use it as a bowl for pumpkin soup or any other harvest dish! It gives a nice presentation and has a good wow factor!!

That's a whole lotta pumpkin goin' on!!! You can store in your freezer for later use if need be! I had pumpkin from my freezer from last year that was still perfectly tasty and made some good pumpkin cookies!

Stayed tuned for what to do with all your thrifty pumpkin puree!!