Fresh Pumpkin

The week before last we got a small pumpkin from the CSA and it's been sitting on my counter as decoration. But I LOVE everything pumpkin - pumpkin bread, pumpkin beer, pumpkin pie, pumpkin coffee - so I really wanted to use the fresh pumpkin to bake something.  Making fresh pumpkin isn't that hard and is so worth the effort.

Baked Fresh Pumpkin
Preheat the oven to 350 Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds. Cover a sheet tray with tin foil. Place the sides cut side down on the sheet. Cook for around an hour or until the pumpkin is soft. Cool. Scoop the pumpkin from the ski and put into a food processor until the mixture is smooth.  Use just like canned fresh pumpkin in all your recipes.  It can be frozen and saved for up to 6 weeks to use later.

I used my first fresh pumpkin of the season to make a Pumpkin Bread Pudding.  Click here for the recipe I used.  I tried it with dried cranberries which I love but I did not like in this recipe. I made it a second time with pecans and it was so delicious. 

I'm going pumpkin picking this weekend and will be picking up several sugar pumpkins to make lots of fresh pumpkin.  My Mom is responsible for the pies at Thanksgiving so I'll give her the fresh pumpkin. But I suspect I'll be making another batch of bread pudding before the fall is over!

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING