In case you didn’t know, it’s pumpkin season! I seriously love pumpkin everything more than I can express into words. I make pumpkin yumminess year round because I love it so much. It used to be that I could easily pick up a can of pumpkin at the store for a buck and I never thought twice about the price. However, the price of a 15 oz can of pumpkin has gone up so much that I don’t like buying it.
Enter the pumpkin. It's that beautiful orange squash that magically appears in the can. Last year, I tried my hand at making my own pumpkin puree and seriously rethought the idea. The effort to cook on the stove and the effort to roast in the oven seriously made me think that the extra cost of a can that can easily be opened. But I am not one to give up. I mean really, I work hard for my money and really don’t want to buy anything I can easily make myself. So I started to search for new ideas on how to easily cook pumpkin to puree and found a few recipes that said to use the slow cooker (aka Crockpot). I thought, well sure I can try that.
I bought a decent sized sugar pumpkin for $1.99 and decided it was worth the try. I priced cans of pumpkin and found that a 15oz can (just under 2 cups) can be found for anywhere from $2 to $3. So I figured if I got 2 cups of pumpkin puree from this pumpkin I would break even. If I got more than that, it would be so much more economical.
I brought the beautiful little pumpkin home and sat it on my counter as a cute decoration for a few days and then decided it was time for it to meet its destiny. I stabbed the pumpkin with the point of a knife twice and put it sideways in my slow cooker. I turned it on to “High” and walked away. Four hours later, I went to check on it and it was totally cooked perfectly.
I grabbed my chef’s knife and cut the stem off then cut it in half. The seeds came out so easily the spoon was just guiding them into the bowl. No messy fight with the guts, no slimy hands, just a quick swipe of the spoon. Awesome! The skin separated itself from the flesh for the most part and scraping the scrumptious pumpkin into a bowl was so easy. I put all the deliciousness into the bowl of my food processor with the processing blade and pureed it in a matter of seconds. That little pumpkin gave me about 3 ½ cups of luscious pumpkin puree. This month I am going to buy a ton more pumpkins and make more puree to freeze for later.
Enter the pumpkin. It's that beautiful orange squash that magically appears in the can. Last year, I tried my hand at making my own pumpkin puree and seriously rethought the idea. The effort to cook on the stove and the effort to roast in the oven seriously made me think that the extra cost of a can that can easily be opened. But I am not one to give up. I mean really, I work hard for my money and really don’t want to buy anything I can easily make myself. So I started to search for new ideas on how to easily cook pumpkin to puree and found a few recipes that said to use the slow cooker (aka Crockpot). I thought, well sure I can try that.
I bought a decent sized sugar pumpkin for $1.99 and decided it was worth the try. I priced cans of pumpkin and found that a 15oz can (just under 2 cups) can be found for anywhere from $2 to $3. So I figured if I got 2 cups of pumpkin puree from this pumpkin I would break even. If I got more than that, it would be so much more economical.
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| Sugar Pumpkin |
I brought the beautiful little pumpkin home and sat it on my counter as a cute decoration for a few days and then decided it was time for it to meet its destiny. I stabbed the pumpkin with the point of a knife twice and put it sideways in my slow cooker. I turned it on to “High” and walked away. Four hours later, I went to check on it and it was totally cooked perfectly.
I grabbed my chef’s knife and cut the stem off then cut it in half. The seeds came out so easily the spoon was just guiding them into the bowl. No messy fight with the guts, no slimy hands, just a quick swipe of the spoon. Awesome! The skin separated itself from the flesh for the most part and scraping the scrumptious pumpkin into a bowl was so easy. I put all the deliciousness into the bowl of my food processor with the processing blade and pureed it in a matter of seconds. That little pumpkin gave me about 3 ½ cups of luscious pumpkin puree. This month I am going to buy a ton more pumpkins and make more puree to freeze for later.
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What you need:
1 sugar pumpkin
1 6 quart slow cooker (a 3 quart will probably work too)
1 Chef’s Knife or other good knife for cutting larger items
1 bowl for the puree
1 bowl or bag for the guts, skin and stem
1 food processor
1 container to store the deliciousness in when you are done
1000 recipes to use the yummy goodness in.
What to do:
~ Stab pumpkin twice for steam release.
~ Place pumpkin in the slow cooker so lid will close.
~ Turn on high and walk away for 4 hours.
~ Pull out pumpkin and let sit for a few minutes so you can handle it.
~ Don’t forget to turn off the slow cooker.
~ Cut off the stem of pumpkin then cut the pumpkin in half.
~ Scoop out the guts to throw away or put in the compost or save the seeds to roast or even plant more pumpkins next year.
~Remove the pumpkin goodness from the skin and then place into the food processor.
~ Blitz it until smooth.
~ Store in fridge or freeze in portions until ready to use.
~ Cook up yummy treats to your heart’s content.
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