Roasting a Pie Pumpkin

Here is the final product from my surprise plant that our neighborhood squirrel hid in our front flower bed. Hey, the squirrel may have destroyed my son's favorite little pumpkin in 2009, but he definitely made up for it in 2010!

Since our pumpkin ripened a little bit early, I decided to go ahead and bake it, rather than parking it on the porch for another squirrel to devour! Plus I have always wanted to try to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (miniature, of course) and I've heard that the pumpkin shortage of 2009 is lingering into 2010- so what better time to try my hand at pumpkin roasting!

First I washed our pumpkin and cut it in half.

Next, I scooped out the seeds and inner membranes- just like caring for ol' Jack!

And since I'm already aware that growing pumpkins are fun and rewarding, I saved a few seeds to drop into my garden next year!

I removed the stem, and placed the flesh sides down on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake at 375* for 1.5 hours.

The scent is amazing! This is what the pumpkin looked like coming out of the oven!

Beautifully baked!

The pumpkin flesh scoops from the pumpkin skin so easily!!!

Seriously, every last bit of pumpkin flesh is yours for the baking!!!

Lastly, I pureed the pumpkin,

and packed it (pre-measured for my muffin recipe, of course) in freezable portions for ready to bake goodness!

Note: My average sized pumpkin yielded 4 cups of pumpkin puree, about 1/2 a cup more than a traditional sized can of pumpkin puree.

I also picked up a couple of pie pumpkins at the local farmer's market for $1 each. I have also seen them at the local grocery store for $2 each!


Whatd'ya think? Will YOU roast your own pie pumpkin this year?