The Thanksgiving meal is an American favorite. After the turkey and dressing, green beans and sweet potatoes are cleared, here come the pies — pumpkin pie is a must on many tables. Homemade pumpkin made purée from an actual vegetable beats canned pumpkin, hands down. Homemade pumpkin purée is healthy and more flavorful and full of fiber, with a deeper color and more substance.
The key to making the best homemade purée is to use the right pumpkin. Pie pumpkins and field pumpkins are members of the Cucurbitaceae family. Both are botanically winter squash but have been bred for specific uses.
Field pumpkins that were used for Halloween decoration and those that lasted through November are not cooking pumpkins; rather, they are used for decorative purposes only. Although field pumpkins can be cooked, the flavor after cooking is bland; seeds are edible and often saved after jack-o’-lantern pumpkins have been carved and the cavity cleaned.
“Pie pumpkins” are the preferred pumpkin for culinary purposes, especially pies. They are often marketed as “sweet pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins.” Pie pumpkins are entirely different from these decorative pumpkins. Decorative pumpkins have heavily ridged skin and stringy texture, and the flesh has high water content.
Pie pumpkins have smooth skin, and the inside texture is firm, dense and sweet. The flesh color is a rich, deep orange. They are small and round—only about 6 to 8 inches in diameter—and generally weigh no more than 6 pounds. The amount of purée from one pie pumpkin will equal that of the usual 16-ounce canned pumpkin. Varietal names are descriptive of their use: New England Pie, Small Sugar, Baby Bear, Sugar Baby, Sugar Snack.
While pie pumpkins are especially tasty puréed into a pie, they also can be baked or roasted and made into a delicious savory soup. When baked, the flesh is smooth, swee, and buttery. It is the sweet, firm, dense flesh that makes them superior to field pumpkins for culinary use.
Baking brings out the sweetness of the pie pumpkin flesh. To bake, halve the pumpkin, clean out the seed cavity, saving seeds if they are wanted, and place the cut end down in a baking dish. Bake at 350 F for about an hour. Scoop out the flesh and mash or purée for a favorite pumpkin recipe.
Wishing all Texas Spur readers a Happy, Blessed Thanksgiving!
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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