Directions for roasted pumpkin cubes and roasted pumpkin purée.
Roasted Pumpkin
For roasted pumpkin cubes
1 (2–3 pound) pumpkin, any variety, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 375ºF. On a large-rimmed baking sheet, toss pumpkin with oil and salt. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until tender and beginning to brown. Enjoy alone or add to any recipe that calls for cubed, roasted pumpkin.
For roasted pumpkin purée
Makes 2½ cups of purée (approximate amount from 1 (2–3 pound) pumpkin)
1 (2–3 pound) pumpkin, halved and seeded
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a large-rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place pumpkin cut-side down (skin faces up). Roast for 45 to 60 minutes, until collapsed and extremely tender when pierced with a knife. Cool until you can handle it comfortably.
To purée, scoop cooled pumpkin flesh into a food processor; discard skin. Blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down sides once or twice. Store in a zip-top bag in the freezer for up to 3 months (see Notes).
NOTES
Don’t roast a Halloween carving pumpkin—they’re watery, stringy, and lacking in flavor. Stick to buttercup, red kuri, turban, kabocha, jarrahdale, or other heirloom cooking varieties for roasted cubes and purées.
While sugar pumpkin may seem like the obvious choice for pumpkin pie and desserts, I find it quite watery, stringy, and bland. I prefer jarrahdale, red kuri, buttercup, butternut, kabocha, or cheese pumpkin to sugar pumpkin for purée.
For pumpkin purée, you can roast more than one pumpkin at a time, but only blend one pumpkin at a time in the food processor.
Some types of pumpkin freeze better than others. Canned pumpkin does not freeze well, becoming separated and watery upon defrosting; ditto buttercup and kabocha purées. If you can, resist freezing plain purée (many recipes containing pumpkin purée freeze beautifully, though).