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Hey Friends!
I have taken a little break from painting heirloom products to go back to sharing some of the fun traditions that we do in our home. We love pumpkin pie in my family and like the rest of the world, all things pumpkin flavored. This particular tradition goes back to the Aquila family, every year the whole family comes together to make pies from scratch on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! I cannot explain how much fun we all have together dancing, singing, laughing, and making pies together in the kitchen. In addition to this, my family makes this pumpkin puree so that we can have our own pumpkin pie to share at the Friendsgiving gathering that we host. It is very simple so scroll down to see the play by play.
Bake Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yields: 4-6 cups
Ingredients
1, 4-6lb pie pumpkin (picture note: we made 3 pumpkins)
Let's get started! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and then prep your pumpkins. Okay I have seen a lot of pumpkin puree recipes that have you cut the pumpkin in half and take out what I call the "innards" before baking. We don't do that, I'm going to make your life very easy! Put your pumpkins on a baking sheet and using a fork poke holes all the way around the pumpkin.
When the oven is finished preheating put the pumpkins inside and bake until soft. Depending on the size of your pumpkins this will take anywhere between 35-45 minutes. Take the pumpkins out of the oven and test them to see if they are ready by inserting a fork into the side. If the pumpkin is soft and finished baking the fork will go in easily and without much effort.
Now that they are fully baked you are going to pull back the stem. Technically this is called a penduncle and can actually help you determine the quality of the pumpkin. I learned something new today, couldn't help but share.
Begin peeling the skin off of the entire pumpkin, again if they are ready the skin will come off easily! For some reason my family got a kick out of the way this bare pumpkin looked when I was finished pealing it. Perfect-Pumpkin-Peeling right there!
Next you are going to flip the pumpkin over so that the bottom is now facing up and take off any remaining skin and pull out the blossom end.
Grab a spoon and scoop out the seeds and strands! Very quick and easy to do when everything if soft.
You could save the pumpkins seeds and roast them for another tasty holiday snack.
Alright folks this is what we are left with, a big bowl of pumpkin pulp. You can go ahead and grab your food processor, blender, or food mill to make the puree.
Throw the pumpkin into the food processor and put it on high until it is completely smooth.
See all these strands around the side? We DO NOT want that, that does not make for a tasty pumpkin pie so if it is still at this stage put the top back on and hit high.
Here is a little close up after I hit high again so you can see the before and after difference. Nice and smooth!
Here is the finished product from our 3 pie pumpkins! We put half in the refrigerator to use more immediately and the other half in the freezer. You can keep the puree frozen for up to 4 months if stored properly.
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