Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

Long Island Cheese pumpkins

Fall is coming a bit early to our house this year, as our pumpkins (I'm using this term to refer to the whole family of cucurbita, which include both what people refer to typically as "pumpkins" and as "squash") were ready to come out of the garden this week and some needed immediate attention. Typically, most winter varieties can be stored in a cool, dry area for months after harvest, but a few of ours had developed cracks and so would not be good for long. Luckily, these Long Island Cheese were pumpkins we grew specifically for pureeing and baking/cooking (they have a delicious slightly sweet flavor and smooth texture, so they lend themselves well to this job - I love them in pie).  So, it wasn't a change in plans, just a matter of moving them up a bit and perhaps processing more at one time than we might have, if we'd had the leisure of storing them through the fall.

ready to be gutted

First, I sliced them in half and removed all of the seeds and stringy insides (or guts, as our family used to refer to them when we carved pumpkins as kids) - I find a large, long handled metal spoon works well for this. Then, I put them skin-side up on a shallow pan, added a little water to cover the bottom, and baked them at 400 for about 45 minutes. You'll know they're ready when the skin wrinkles up; flip them over and stick them with a fork to be sure they're really soft all the way through before continuing. It won't hurt to cook them for a few more minutes, but having under-cooked squash will make the next steps more difficult and result in a less pleasing end product.

ready

roasted insides

Next, it was out of their skins and into the food processor. I usually just hold a piece inside the food processor and scrape the flesh off with a fork. It should come off very easily, but be careful if you've just removed the pumpkin from the oven; it will be hot (alternatively, you could be a patient person and let it cool before moving on to this step - if you are using a blender to puree, you definitely need to wait, otherwise the hot squash will cause a build up of pressure and the lid will fly off, spraying steaming hot squash all over you and your kitchen; trust someone who's done that with tomato soup, it ain't pretty)!

ready to puree

Once it's pureed, it's just a matter of transferring your goo into appropriate freezer containers and freezing it (I like to freeze mine in 2 - 4 cup portions, as that's enough for one or two recipes, which are as many as I can typically manage before I forget about the leftover squash in the fridge).

smooth and ready for the freezer

Tres and I have been doing this for the last couple of years with a couple of large pumpkins from the farmer's market, but it's exciting to have grown and processed them from our own garden this year. I'm really looking forward to the pies, breads, muffins, stews, and other tasty dishes our pumpkins afford us this fall and winter.