Roasted Pumpkin Purée w/ Shallots & Garlic
This savory pumpkin purée combines shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper. It's a quick and easy recipe and one of my go-tos every fall whenever pumpkins are available! The shallots and garlic compliment and balance out the sweetness of pumpkins and are perfect in any savory dish.
Equipment
- Spoon
- Baking Dish
- Aluminum Foil
- Oven
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 pumpkin
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 shallot minced
- dash salt
- dash pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut pumpkin in half and remove stem.
- Using a spoon, scoop out the innards to remove all of the seeds and stringy pieces. Reserve the seeds if you want to roast them for a fun snack.The "guts" are still edible, but can be texturally unpleasant. I will usually keep them to puree into soup or pet food. However, most people will discard them! Just make sure not to toss any seeds!
- Once you've cut, peeled, and removed the innards from the pumpkin, wrap in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.I do this by getting a piece of foil long enough to wrap around the entire pumpkin. Place pumpkin face down in the center of the foil. Then, wrap the edges of the foil around to cover the pumpkin completely.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours depending on size. Make sure to flip halfway through so that the pumpkin sides are face up.This is the trickiest part about roasting pumpkins: the size of the pumpkin can drastically increase the cook time. You’ll know that they’re done when the flesh is soft and you can poke it with a fork without any resistance. It will vaguely resemble the consistency of potatoes before you mash them. The best thing to do is to cook them for 45 minutes and then check them every 5-10 minutes after that until they’re cooked throughout.
- Let cool to the touch.
- Remove skin and add pumpkin, garlic, shallots, salt, and pepper (all of the ingredients) to the food processor. It should peel off easily. If you like, you can get every bit of pumpkin out of it by scooping the remaining pumpkin out with a spoon.
- Puree until smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Making sure to scrape down the sides occasionally.If you aren’t using a food processor, you can use a large mixing bowl and a fork, potato masher, or mixer to achieve a similar effect. I prefer a food processor, though, because it removes the stringiness that I find texturally unpleasant.