Many of you might have leftover pumpkins from Halloween, or your garden. Well, this is what I did with mine...
I had a few smaller pumpkins, so I found it easiest to cut them in smaller pieces and then clean them out with a knife and spoon. If anyone knows an easier way to clean out a pumpkin...please share! :)
And, here's my pan full of pumpkin...I put a little bit of water in the pan to prevent the pumpkin from sticking and burning.
We have chickens, so I took all of the seeds out to soak in salt water and then fed the rest to the chickens. They love it.
I baked the pumpkin for about 40 minutes on 350. If your pumpkin is larger, you will need to cook it longer. You can check it with a fork to make sure it is soft.
Next, I scraped out the inside of the pumpkin and put it in my blender: I added just enough water to help it blend.
And here's the nice smooth pumpkin...
Now, I have an amazing recipe for pumpkin bars (that will be my next post) that uses 2 cups of pumpkin, so I measured out 2 cups of pumpkin and put it in a Ziploc bag to put in the freezer. This way when I want to make them, I can just take the bag out, thaw the pumpkin and use it in my recipe.
I haven't baked my seeds yet, they are still soaking on my counter. When I do, I will put them on a baking sheet sprayed with oil and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes--just until they are slightly browned. Then turn my oven off and let them sit in there while it cools. They are absolutely delicious!!
Pin It
Best way to clean out a pumpkin is to either use those ones that you can get at Halloween time with the pumpkin carving kit.
ReplyDeleteOR, I also use an ice cream scoop. Has a sharper edge than a regular spoon does.