This year Axel and I went to Country Pumpkins in Orland to get Halloween decor for the front doorstep. I wanted the reddest pumpkin I could find so it would match my front door. Yes, I admit to that.
I ended up purchasing a red Cinderella pumpkin. At the checkout, the kind sales lady asked what I was going to do with it. I told her that I was planning to put it by my door to look pretty. She chuckled and said that Cinderella pumpkins make the most delicious pumpkin meat for cooking. I am so glad she said that because I might not have thought to cook this intimidating-looking squash.
Fast forward to last Thursday when Mom came over for a visit. She admired the pumpkin and I told her I was going to roast it soon. "Oh, yes," she says, "Good idea. There is going to be a pumpkin shortage this year."
"Really?" I said, a bit dubious on the notion. Sounds like something the pumpkin lobby cooked up to sell more pumpkin, sooner.
"Yes, I had your dad buy my whole supply of canned pumpkin for the holidays already," she said. So there you have it folks. If you still have any pumpkins left, roast them up and freeze them (or can them if you trust your skills). You can sell it on street corners come Christmas when someone has a hankering for pumpkin pie. I prepped mine for the black market tonight.
It turns out that a Cinderella pumpkin is actually a dream to slice through. Even removing and separating the plump seeds was very easy in comparison to the standard jack-o-lantern pumpkins. I cut the whole thing in to eight enormous wedges and roasted them on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper for about an hour and a half at 350. If you do not fill your entire oven with pumpkin (like I did because I am impatient) the roasting time may be less.
One wedge went to a soup for tonight's dinner (recipe below- guesstimates so use your best judgement). Two of the less-roasty wedges were reserved for Jon to cube up and use in some recipes he has planned... maybe I can get him to make this one. With the other fives wedges, I scooped out the custard-like flesh into my largest bowl and pureed with my immersion blender. It looked like I was mass-producing baby food.
I ended up purchasing a red Cinderella pumpkin. At the checkout, the kind sales lady asked what I was going to do with it. I told her that I was planning to put it by my door to look pretty. She chuckled and said that Cinderella pumpkins make the most delicious pumpkin meat for cooking. I am so glad she said that because I might not have thought to cook this intimidating-looking squash.
This was as red as it got at Country Pumpkins
"Really?" I said, a bit dubious on the notion. Sounds like something the pumpkin lobby cooked up to sell more pumpkin, sooner.
"Yes, I had your dad buy my whole supply of canned pumpkin for the holidays already," she said. So there you have it folks. If you still have any pumpkins left, roast them up and freeze them (or can them if you trust your skills). You can sell it on street corners come Christmas when someone has a hankering for pumpkin pie. I prepped mine for the black market tonight.
It turns out that a Cinderella pumpkin is actually a dream to slice through. Even removing and separating the plump seeds was very easy in comparison to the standard jack-o-lantern pumpkins. I cut the whole thing in to eight enormous wedges and roasted them on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper for about an hour and a half at 350. If you do not fill your entire oven with pumpkin (like I did because I am impatient) the roasting time may be less.
The pumpkin, halved. My cutting board is huge but it looks like a shingle beneath this pumpkin.
The baby food.
How I bagged it without making a huge mess. That cylinder came with my immersion blender and is a perfect quart-sized bag holder..
Bagging it up.
The liquid gold (do you think they could bust me with intent to sell?)
The toasted seeds. You have to toast the seeds even if you do not want to. Sorry.
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
Stuff you need
- 1/8 of a giant Cinderella Pumpkin, haphazardly roasted at 350
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 3 cups of water (or chicken stock if you want to be fancy-pants)
- Bullion cubes if you are using water (enough for four cups of liquid). I like Knorr vegetable cubes because Sara recommended them and she is a much better cook than I.
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan plus more for garnish
- 8-16 oz delicious mushrooms, sliced (but if you must use button mushrooms, I won't tell)
- Some lemon juice if you have it but, if not, no biggie
- Some butter, oil, salt and pepper
Stuff you need to do
- In your soup pot, sauté the onion with some light salt and pepper on medium until soft.
- Add the garlic, rosemary, and nutmeg and sauté some more.
- Add the stock and pumpkin, bring to a boil.
- Puree with your immersion blender. If you don't have one, get one for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus.
- Add milk and heat back up but don't boil. Puree some more to make it light and foamy.
- Melt in the grated Parmesan
- Taste and add salt and/or pepper if needed
- Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil until cooked. Add a little butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
- Serve soup with a scoop of mushrooms in the middle, top with reserved Parmesan and freshly ground pepper
Comments