Enjoy the Fall Season With This Baked Pumpkin Puree

Gather the ingredients. The Spruce Featured Video Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut top off the pumpkin. The Spruce Scrape out stringy membranes and seeds. (Reserve seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds if desired.) The Spruce Cut the pumpkin into large pieces. The Spruce Place the pumpkin pieces in a roasting pan and pour 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the pan. The Spruce Cover with foil. The Spruce Bake 45 to 60 minutes, or until pumpkin is soft and easily pierced with a fork. The Spruce Let cool until you can comfortably handle it. Then scrape the soft pulp from the skin into a food processor or heavy-duty blender. Discard the skin. The Spruce Pulse until evenly pureed. The Spruce Reheat if serving immediately or refrigerate and use within 3 days. The pumpkin puree may also be frozen in an airtight container or zip-top bag for 10 to 12 months. Tips Choose smaller pumpkins weighing 2 to 4 pounds for eating purposes. Overly-large pumpkins tend to be dry and stringy.An ice cream scooper is a useful tool when removing the seeds and membrane from inside the pumpkin. Recipe Variations Adding spices will create a variety of different flavors to your pureed pumpkin. To make a savory pumpkin puree, add butter, salt, and pepper to taste to the pumpkin puree. If you would like a sweeter side dish, add a bit of brown sugar. This dish is a great menu substitution for mashed potatoes (and is healthier).For a pumpkin pie puree, add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and brown sugar to the pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie spice blend may be substituted for the spices if you wish. The Spruce Recipes Using Pumpkin Puree Pumpkin puree may be best known for the main ingredient in pumpkin pie, but this vegetable can be incorporated into so many other recipes, from soup to pasta sauce to pancakes. Use your homemade pumpkin puree to make a better-than-Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, a pumpkin spicy queso dip (perfect for fall football), or even a ​vegetarian three-cheese lasagna, a hearty dish the whole family will love. How to Substitute and Measure Pumpkin for Recipes