Steam Easy

Recipe calls for a can of pumpkin puree but hate the thought of getting your puree from the can? 
Gross, right? Canned vegetables never taste quite right.

I have tried many ways to puree those cute pie pumpkins you get from the store. Boiling or baking in the oven techniques take forever and are messy. Recently I started steaming all my vegetables... it's so quick and easy to steam, I don't know why I haven't tried this sooner! So, I gave my pumpkins a try and threw them in the steamer, and I will never go back to my former methods. There's an added bonus, your house smells like pumpkin and since it's fall, it totally works!

Here's my 2 reasons to steam your veggies...

1. Nutritious - Other methods like boiling, grilling, broiling, frying, and sauteing are not great, because these can strip off the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the vegetables.

2. Flavorful - enough said! If you are going eat the veggies, they NEED to taste good.

**Note, not all vegetables steam equally... Tomatoes would be a poor choice to steam because it has the opposite effect. But stuff like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, pumpkin, and etc LOVE to be steamed.

So instead of buying that yucky can of pumpkin puree, steam it! 

Here's how:

• Cut the pumpkin in half with a sharp chef's knife and use a large metal spoon to remove the seeds and stringy innards from the pumpkin halves.

• Chop the pumpkin flesh into squares or slices.

• Set a steamer basket into a large pot and fill the pot with water until the water just touches the bottom of the basket.

• Place the pumpkin in the steamer basket and set the lid on the pot.

• Turn the stove's burner to medium heat and bring the water to a boil.

• Reduce the heat and simmer the water for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin flesh is tender.

• The pumpkin will be soft when cooked. 

• Remove the steamer basket from the pot and let cool.

• Once cooled, remove cooked meat from the pumpkin skin.

• Puree the mixture with a stick blender or potato masher.

• Measure and use in recipe. Freeze excess or be creative and use elsewhere!

Pumpkin puree can be used in a variety of recipes. I will throw it in my kid's oatmeal and pancakes with a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Freeze it and use through out the year if desired! But avoid the carving pumpkins as they have less flesh, more seeds, and barely any flavor compared to the small cooking pumpkins.

What do you like to put pumpkin in?
What's you favorite pumpkin recipe?