To roast or not to roast….it’s basically up to you! I personally love pumpkin pies with roasted pumpkin, but iin our very busy lives it’s not always possible. Since I bake for a farmer’s market, I want my pies to be as fresh as possible, the same for anything I bake for the market. I also like to know exactly what’s in things I bake and that’s why I like baking from scratch. I take short cuts like everyone else from time to time but short cuts are based on each recipe…and my time.

What type of pumpkin do I use??…hmmmm, this is debatable, but I personally prefer Fairytale pumpkins, but, a lot of people use the small sugar pumpkins since they are much easier to cut, roast and blend.  I have also used butternut squash, and really, it’s hard for me to know the difference between butternut squash and pumpkin. Butternut squash is very easy to roast. Fairytale pumpkins have a lot of water, and to be honest with you, it’s the part I dread most…getting all the water out!

Today I roasted 2 (20 pound) and one (15 pound) fairytale pumpkins. I love the way the house smells when the pumpkins are roasting in the oven…instant room refresh! If your selling a house around this time of year, get you some pumpkins, throw them in the oven and your potential buyers with think they’ve stepped back in time to grandma’s kitchen! Almost guaranteed instant sale! lol

Below I’ll show you the process of how I roasted my Fairytale pumpkins, again, use what pumpkin you like, just remember, the larger the pumpkin, the larger the knife…safety first! I happened to have someone with some muscles cut my pumpkins open for me.

Good luck and ….. Happy Pumpkin Roasting!

3 different size Fairytale pumpkins

Pumpkins cut up and ready to be cleaned

Pumpkins cut in smaller pieces for easier roasting

Pumpkins cleaned and put on a foil lined baking sheet….Roast at 400 F for 45 minutes to 120 minutes, depending on the size of your pumpkins.  I had the large Fairytale pumpkins, so I had to roast mine for 120 minutes.

Pumpkins after being roasted

It may be hard for you to tell, but I put my pumpkins in a large metal bowl to cool and after a few minutes, you can see the water in the bowl from the pumpkins….there is a lot of water in pumpkins.

Here the pumpkins have cooled and I’m now scooping out the roasted pumpkin.  Be careful to not scoop out the rind part (the white part).

I put the pumpkin in a food processor and blended until smooth, like baby food.  I lined a colander with a thin white cloth or you can use cheesecloth. Once drained, and this can take several hours.  It’s much easier if you let them drain in a colander in the sink over-night.  I put mine in the cloth and squeezed a lot of the water out.  I then covered the pumpkin and left it in the colander on the sink and laid my Dutch oven on top! This was something heavy that helped to squeeze the water out faster!

Once the water has been drained. I put a zip lock on a scale and filled the bag until it was 16 ounces.  This is a good way to store your roasted pumpkin in the freezer….the bags lay flat and easier to store and thaw.  The pumpkin thaws quickly when placed in warm water in the sink…ready to sue in no time.

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try and help you out!