Do you always have leftover pumpkin after Halloween or Thanksgiving, and want to know how to cook it? Do you love pumpkin soup and want to make sure that you do not make any mistakes? Whatever your reason, there are lots of important tips for cooking with this versatile squash relative.
While most people stick to plain old pumpkin desserts, there are lots more options out there. Let us take a look at some of the things you should know about the pumpkin before you get started cooking. You will have a lot more luck!
The first thing to remember is that not every pumpkin will make great soup or pie. The kind of pumpkin you carve at Halloween has been bred to grow big and fast, to stand up to a lot of abuse, and to look pretty on your doorstep. Unfortunately, that means that it is not the best choice for food.
While jack-o-lantern pumpkins are cheap and readily available at supermarkets and roadside stands (especially right after Halloween), they are not always the best pick for eating. They can be fun to feed to local animals and they compost well, but their flesh is not most people's top choice when they want to eat pumpkin.
That does not mean you cannot eat them at all, but it is a good idea to "hide" this type of pumpkin in other foods. Cook your surplus pumpkin down by baking or boiling it, scrape the pulp out of the shell, and blitz it in a food processor once or twice. Then put it in pumpkin bread, cookies, or even chili.
For foods where you want that pumpkin taste to shine through, like pumpkin pie or an easy pumpkin soup recipe, look for smaller sugar pumpkins. Chock full of potassium, vitamin A and fiber, these pumpkins have a lot more flavor, are much sweeter, and have smoother, more pleasant flesh. They are often used for desserts, but work for any meal where you want the flavor of pumpkin to be a major player.
Pumpkins can be used in pumpkin soup in chunks, or pureed for a smooth, silky texture. Some recipes even cook the soup right in the pumpkin, and stir the flesh off the walls to make a creamy, interesting texture. It all depends on your preferences. Just make sure you process the pumpkin carefully, according to the recipe directions, to prevent problems with water content or incompletely cooked pumpkins.
Pumpkin is a great choice for making soup, and a whole lot more. By paying attention to the type of pumpkin, you have and making sure that you cook it correctly, you will have a much better chance of getting a great fall meal. Try all the great options for making pumpkin soup, and do not forget to buy the right kind of pumpkin.
While most people stick to plain old pumpkin desserts, there are lots more options out there. Let us take a look at some of the things you should know about the pumpkin before you get started cooking. You will have a lot more luck!
The first thing to remember is that not every pumpkin will make great soup or pie. The kind of pumpkin you carve at Halloween has been bred to grow big and fast, to stand up to a lot of abuse, and to look pretty on your doorstep. Unfortunately, that means that it is not the best choice for food.
While jack-o-lantern pumpkins are cheap and readily available at supermarkets and roadside stands (especially right after Halloween), they are not always the best pick for eating. They can be fun to feed to local animals and they compost well, but their flesh is not most people's top choice when they want to eat pumpkin.
That does not mean you cannot eat them at all, but it is a good idea to "hide" this type of pumpkin in other foods. Cook your surplus pumpkin down by baking or boiling it, scrape the pulp out of the shell, and blitz it in a food processor once or twice. Then put it in pumpkin bread, cookies, or even chili.
For foods where you want that pumpkin taste to shine through, like pumpkin pie or an easy pumpkin soup recipe, look for smaller sugar pumpkins. Chock full of potassium, vitamin A and fiber, these pumpkins have a lot more flavor, are much sweeter, and have smoother, more pleasant flesh. They are often used for desserts, but work for any meal where you want the flavor of pumpkin to be a major player.
Pumpkins can be used in pumpkin soup in chunks, or pureed for a smooth, silky texture. Some recipes even cook the soup right in the pumpkin, and stir the flesh off the walls to make a creamy, interesting texture. It all depends on your preferences. Just make sure you process the pumpkin carefully, according to the recipe directions, to prevent problems with water content or incompletely cooked pumpkins.
Pumpkin is a great choice for making soup, and a whole lot more. By paying attention to the type of pumpkin, you have and making sure that you cook it correctly, you will have a much better chance of getting a great fall meal. Try all the great options for making pumpkin soup, and do not forget to buy the right kind of pumpkin.
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Canning pumpkin soup is a great way to prepare soup for later. Don't puree your soup until you open the jar and reheat it. Pureeing before you process your soup makes it too thick to process safely. When you open your jar to eat later, heat it up and then puree as normal.
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