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Alton Brown's Pumpkin Puree

How to make homemade pumpkin puree for pies, donuts, breads, cakes, soups, sauces, and more. This is an Alton Brown recipe with instructions written by me.
Prep Time 4 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
  • Slice off a small part of the skin of the pumpkin to make it more stable for cutting. Break off the stem.
  • Cut the pumpkin in half.
  • Scoop out the seeds using a wide ice cream scoop. Save the seeds for roasting later.
  • Place the pumpkin halves onto a sheet pan. Liberally sprinkle with kosher salt. Then turn them so the flesh side is down.
  • Roast for 30 to 45 minutes or until a fork or knife can easily pierce the skin in several places.
  • Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 1 hour before removing the flesh.
  • Place the pumpkin into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Now your pumpkin is ready to be used in recipes.
  • The puree will last about a week in the fridge. After that you should freeze it for longer storage.

Notes

You can do this in your air fryer as well. You are going to have to work in batches and cut the pumpkin into quarters that will fit in your air fryer basket. Same temperature - 400 degrees. Timing will depend on your air fryer. I would start checking it around 15 minutes. 
Can't find a pie pumpkin, use any of these instead
  • Butternut squash
  • Hubbard squash
  • Tiger Stripe pumpkin
  • Long Island Cheese pumpkin
  • Honeynut Squash
  • Winter Luxury pumpkin
Cooking times will vary based on the size, shape, and variety of squash/pumpkin you use.