Needless to say, I have been up to my ears in pumpkin! There are 6 Seminole pumpkins of various sizes sitting in my dining room ready to be roasted, pureed and placed in the freezer.
For those of you intimidated by the idea of splitting and roasting a large hard winter squash of any kind, here are simple instructions with pictures. Don't worry about having a strong knife or a large roasting pan - a knife with a 6 inch blade and a cookie sheet will do!
First, insert the knife near the stem and wiggle it into the center of the pumpkin. At this point you can rotate the pumpkin while bringing the blade around the curve toward the bottom.
Flip the pumpkin over and continue back up towards the stem on the other side. Don't try to cut through the stem - just remove the knife, wedge your fingers into the cut on the bottom of the pumpkin and pull - the pumpkin will split and the stem will end up on one half.
Take a large spoon and scoop out the fibers and seeds in the center. You can save the seeds to clean and roast or just toss them into the compost pile - your choice!
Place the pumpkin halves cut side down on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees until your finger leaves a dent in the flesh and skin. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, this could take two hours.
Remove from oven and cool before handling. The skin will either peel off easily or the flesh can be scooped from the skin. At this point you can serve it or continue with a recipe.
Well, I'm off to make 5 gallons of soup - see you Sunday at the Souper Fun Sunday!
