There are certain staples in our "pantry" that we have decided are best suited to be home-made. This is one of those staples.
The moment they start to show up at the farmer's market or our Co-Op or even at Azure Standard, they start to fill my kitchen and our house smells like pumpkin bread for days.
The Case for Making Your Own Puree
The general rule of thumb in my kitchen is that if I discover that a food I've been buying has crazy additives (like cream cheese) or is in a can (even if it's BPA-free) then we bulk cook the item and store it in our freezer.
Why?
As I'll discuss in a later post, if it has additives or it's in can then it's no longer nutritious. And it costs more money.
In fact, it now has stuff in it that our bodies don't recognize and can't use....especially our kids. And when our bodies don't recognize it and can't use it, then it begins to want to purge it - and that is the start of inflammation.
Not to mention that once you taste how delicious the fresh option is versus the canned option, you'll never go back. You're kids will never go back.
This recipe was inspired by Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead.
While looking for a way to make a pumpkin puree, all the other recipe options (and I tried a lot) seemed arduous and resulted in either cut fingers and hands, sore shoulders, and pieces of pumpkin that were slightly overcooked.
Okay, I'll admit it....it also resulted in a number of expletives being bandied about when one of the above mishaps occurred. I was ready to give up when I stumbled upon Jill's approach.
The only difference is the slow-cooked process in order to keep the many vital nutrients of the pumpkins intact.
Batch Cooking
Because I'm a busy professional mom, I often defer to the idea of batch cooking. This way, the food items that I need are available to me and I don't have to spend extra time slow-cooking an item.
So when I'm making this puree, I am slow-cooking around 6 pumpkins at once. The mason jars are then labeled and dated.
How to Slow-Roast Pumpkin Seeds
Wait! Don't throw out those pumpkin seeds. Instead, turn them into a healthy snack for yourself and your family.
Remove the strings and pumpkin flesh from the seeds, wash them. Then place in a bowl, sprinkle 1 tsp (per pumpkin) of sea salt and then cover with water and allow the seeds to soak for at least 8-hours.
Strain out the water - BUT DON'T RINSE!
Place on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Turn the oven onto 170 degrees and place the seeds in the oven and slow-cook for 8-to-12 hours. Or, if you have a dehydrator, use that instead.
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