Pumpkin recipes on the internet abound, but not all recipes are created equal. After a full week of experimenting with pumpkin, here are my pumpkin recipe reviews, plus tips and tricks for making your own pumpkin puree! It’s most definitely pumpkin season!
I’m going to depart from my usual topics to share just a bit of our cooking adventures. Baby Boy is just obsessed these days with cooking, so we’ve been doing a lot of it and keeping busy! A couple of weeks ago, we bought a huge pumpkin at the market: this was the result.
After coming back from the market with a decent sized pumpkin, M helped me cut it up and I went on a steaming and blending run. It’s pretty easy.
How to Make Pumpkin Puree
- Steam pieces of pumpkin until soft.
- Scoop the flesh out of skin.
- Blend in food processor.
It took about 5 batches but we ended up with about 14 cups of home-made puree (that’s about 8 cans worth).
Since we didn’t have much time before dinner, I went with the quickest dish I could think of: pasta sauce.
Pumpkin Pasta
I loosely followed this recipe. I didn’t exactly measure but replaced: butter with olive oil, shallots with regular onion, fresh garlic with powdered (because of a kid distraction I left it out and then later added the powder), chicken stock + milk with starchy cooking water + a bit of sour cream, no parsley because I was lazy and we were hungry.
The verdict: pretty good!
We needed to get some baking going, but I was low on butter and wanted to make sure I used an eggless recipe so that my Sous-Chef Baby Boy could enjoy the results of his efforts (adding ingredients to the bowl, “mixing”).
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
I followed this recipe. I halved the recipe, replaced butter for the shortening, and had to hand-chop some baking chocolate because I was out of chocolate chips. The verdict: delicious!
Pumpkin Potatoes Au Gratin
I followed this recipe for the pumpkin potatoes. Just looking at it, I knew I would have to make a few adjustments. Because I was using raw potatoes, I knew I needed enough liquid to reach the top of the casserole dish, otherwise the top layer wouldn’t cook.
So on the top I spiced the potatoes with nutmeg, salt, pepper, tiny bit of garlic, and crushed red peppers. Then I poured on a mixture of mostly milk with a bit of sour cream to thicken it up making sure to infuse the cracks. I topped with a touch of parmesan to crisp up the top. I baked partially covered and mostly uncovered.
The verdict: really good!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
We tackle the seeds! You can keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to roast them. I used this tutorial.
The verdict: perfect! We added them to a mixed salad- yum, yum!
Black Bean Pumpkin Enchiladas
This is the recipe I followed. The main change I made was making them with rice instead of chicken. So I cooked the rice in the tomato sauce and all the spices and left out the jalapeño out to make it more baby friendly.
I used just under 1 cup of rice (uncooked) and when it was ready, added black beans and half the sauce to make the filling. I also changed up the cheese to adobera for a little extra punch of flavor.
The verdict: yum!
Pull Apart Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread
I followed a recipe that I don’t recommend unfortunately.
I knew we were headed for trouble once I saw the dough situation. It was way too sticky and I ended up needing to add quite a bit of flour. This of course changed the balance and I don’t think it rose quite enough.
The filling was delicious but an enormous amount compared to the dough. All in all it was tasty but way too sweet.
The verdict: ok.
I know that this is a little post-pumpkin season for most people north of the border, but hopefully not totally out of touch! It was a fruitful cooking week, and I am already looking forward to the next round of pumpkin cooking with all my frozen puree.
Interested in more recipes for pumpkin season?
Find some Halloween recipes here, and Thanksgiving recipes here!
