Now that Halloween has passed and we're headed straight for the holidays, cheap or free pumpkins litter the ground.  Last night at the grocery store they were literally giving away pumpkins for free on your way out the store!  I couldn't pass that up, so I ended up hauling home a medium sized pumpkin, thinking that it was a squash, so surely you can eat it, right?

Right!

The kind of pumpkin you carve at Halloween is not exactly the same kind of pumpkin that comes in a can to be used in pies.  Those would be "pie pumpkins" or "sugar pumpkins."  Carving pumpkins are a winter squash, a Cucurbita cultivar just like all the other winter squashes in that big bin at the grocery store.

Scrub any residual dirt off the skin of the pumpkin - since they are not sold to be eaten, pumpkins tend to be dirtier than other produce!  Cut off the top, scoop out the guts (save the seeds to roast!), then carve the meat into pieces about three or four inches square.

At this point, you can cook the meat just as you would any other squash.  I like to roast squash in the oven with olive oil and salt for about an hour at 350 degrees.  If you want a sweeter side dish, you can use brown sugar and cinnamon instead of salt, and add a pat of butter before serving.

To use your pumpkin for bread, pie, or soup, it will need to be pureed.  To make a puree, first cook the meat until it is soft to the touch.  You can do this by simmering it in a pot of water, or by roasting it in the oven.  If you choose boiling, be sure the chunks are completely submerged.  If you roast it, use high heat (I cooked mine at 475 degrees) and add about a quarter inch of water to the bottom of the roasting pan to keep the meat from drying out.

Once it has been cooked and cooled to a safe temperature, you can peel off the rind.  This should be fairly easy, now that the meat is soft from cooking.  I like to scrape the inside of the rind with a spoon, to make sure I'm getting everything!  

Mash the meat into a puree with a fork, or use a food processor if you have one.  Remember to adjust your recipe's ingredients to account for the consistency of your puree, and add extra liquids if necessary.  And because this isn't as sweet as a pie pumpkin, you will want to add a bit of extra sugar if you are making a pie.  

Bonus Points: Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

The easiest way to separate the seeds is to plunge the whole mess into a big bowl of water.  The water makes it easy to slide the seeds out of the slimy guts.

I like my pumpkin seeds really crispy, so once I have rinsed off all the guts, I spread them out to dry for a few days.  I like them simple, so I just toss them with some olive oil and sea salt, and roast them at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy, stirring after 10 minutes.