Culinary Pumpkins

While my culinary pumpkin harvest was eclipsed in quantity by the butternut squashes (we harvested nearly 90 of them), a dozen of these beauties is still enough to keep me in pumpkin soup, pies, breads, and muffins for quite some time. Culinary pumpkins, sometimes called pie or sugar pumpkins, differ from ornamental pumpkins in that they have a thicker sweeter flesh--all the better for making soups, custards, and baked goods.

There are those who think that canned pumpkin is actually better for cooking than fresh because it's generally less watery and more consistent in texture. But I think the fresh taste of homemade pumpkin puree is infinitely better in my recipes. I've tried my Great Pumpkin Muffins(see the Fall Recipes section on this site) both ways and come back to the fresh puree every time.

A culinary pumpkin can last up to 3 months in your basement or refrigerator if you gently wash the rind with a 10 percent bleach solution prior to storing it. So when you see them at the markets in the next few weeks, you might want to pick up a few for the upcoming holiday season.

The Great Pumpkin Muiffins recipe has instructions for making fresh, oven-roasted pumpkin puree which can last, stored in freezer safe bags or containers, up to a year in your freezer. To use the frozen puree in your recipes, thaw it out and strain it for 24 hours in the refrigerator in a fine mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter placed over a bowl to remove the excess water. This will give you a thick puree that is usable in any recipe where canned pumpkin is called for. If you are using freshly made pumpkin puree and it looks a bit watery or thin, do the same thing to remove any excess water before using it in your recipe.

The Butternut Squash Soup in the Fall Recipes section can be made with pumpkin puree instead of squash puree. Last year for Thanksgiving, I served warm pumpkin soup topped with a tiny bit of sour cream mixed with a touch of ancho chili powder in slightly over-sized shot glasses before the meal. It was a nice, light, seasonal start to our traditional feast.