Pumpkin Puree

Joanne Gallagher prepares pumpkin purée from small baking pumpkins. She presents it as an ingredient for pumpkin pies, muffins, breads and other recipes.

The pumpkin is rinsed, dried and divided into halves. Seeds and most stringy material are scooped out, leaving the flesh inside its skin for roasting.

Optional fine sea salt seasons the inside of the halves. They roast cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet until the flesh softens and pulls away from the skin.

After cooling, the soft flesh is scooped into a food processor. The skins stay behind, and the same flesh is blended until very smooth.

The author describes smaller baking pumpkins as producing a silkier texture. This is the homemade roasted preparation; other winter squashes and the separate roasted-seed recipe remain different choices.