I took that big old Halloween 🎃 pumpkin, gave him a labotomy, then cooked him up, puréed those innards and roasted up the seeds. It’s delicious what you can do with holiday decor.
First get your pumpkin(s) and wash them off. You won't peel them first, and I'm sure you don't want dirt in your puree. Cut them into chunks that will fit in your slow cooker(s) and pressure cooker(s). Keep the seeds and guts on a separate bowl for now. If you have tiny pumpkins, you can just set them in the cooker. Either way, you may want to remove the stem - up to you. I have linked my choice of cooking devices. Just click on the word or picture to see what I use.
Recipes for cooking the pumpkin:
Pumpkin in a Pressure Cooker
put your pumpkin on the rack, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water, set the pressure to high for 15 minutes and let the steam release on its own for at least 10 minutes. The flesh will be soft and tender.
Pumpkin in a Slow Cooker
put your pumpkin the pot - skin side up, if possible, then add 1/2 c water, set it on high for 3 hours.
Once your flesh is all cooked up, take out each piece of pumpkin carefully - they are really hot - and scoop the meat out. Realistically, you may have to scrape off the skin depending on how smooshy it got during cooking.
Put the pumpkin into a strainer (see below) to remove some of the liquid. You can keep it all juicy if you'd like to use it, but again, your call. Once it is strained, you will want to use a blender or food processor to give it that velvety texture that you are used it. After you make it "like butter" you can bag it up. I put 2 cups of pumpkin into quart size freezer bags and placed them on a sheet pan in the freezer. Once they were rock solid, I was able to tuck the bags all around the freezer.
Now, when your recipe calls for a can of pumpkin (i.e. 2 cups), grab a bag from your freezer, defrost and cook away!
Onto the seeds... My mini-me loves roasted pumpkin seeds, so this was an easy decision to keep those slimy buggers. I took out all of the pumpkin guts and kept them in a separate bowl overnight. They dried out a bit it was easier to separate the seeds from the rest of the stuff. Once you have all your seeds, rinse them off, dry them a bit, sprinkle with olive or avocado oil or butter, salt and put on a baking sheet. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes, but check frequently!!
Enjoy your pumpkin paradise... If you'd like to get the recipe for my "famous" pumpkin bread that I have been making since the 5th grade, just let me know! Its a big hit even with non-pumpkin lovers (yes, there are a few of those out there). email me at phoodmoose@gmail.com
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