If you're making a pumpkin pie or just carving one for a Jack-o'-lantern, do not throw away the pumpkin seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds can be a delicious as well as a healthy snack which you can munch on after you have your pumpkin pie dessert. So here's a quick and easy guide on how to roast pumpkin seeds.
You will need:
pumpkin seeds
oven
baking sheet
oven mitten
salt
1-2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter
bowl
spoon
Procedure:
Step 1: Wash your seeds.
Rinse off your pumpkin seeds and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Step 2: Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Step 3: Add oil and stir.
Stir the seeds into a bowl with olive oil or butter.
Step 4: Baking sheet and salt
Pour the seeds flat into the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.
Step 5: Bake and check.
Bake the pumpkin seeds for 30-40 minutes or until brown.
Don't forget to check the seeds every 10 minutes.
Let the seeds cool for 5 to 10 minutes before eating.
Another pumpkin pie recipe. This is really yummy. But, I just wonder if I could use squash instead of pumpkin, because in my hometown, I don't see pumpkins around. Here's how to make pumpkin pie.
Ingredients:
850 g /30 oz pumpkin, chopped
350 ml /12.3 fl oz cream
190 g / 6.7 oz brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 or quarter tsp nutmeg
1/4 or quarter tsp allspice
zest of 1 lemon
short-crust pastry base, ready made
about 500g /17.6 oz of beans to weigh down the crust
Utensils needed:
roasting tin
spoon
fork
pie mould
jug
hand blender
aluminum foil
parchment paper
Watch the video:
Cooking procedure:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven: Set the temperature to 180ºC or gas mark 4.
Step 2:
Roast the pumpkin: Tip the chopped pumpkin into the roasting tin and cover it tightly with aluminium foil. Put the tin on a low shelf in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes (this is the first stage of creating the pumpkin puree).
Step 3:
Prepare the pastry base: Gently lay the pastry crust on the pie mold and carefully press it down to form the shape of the pie. Remove any excess pastry from the edges. Now using a fork, lightly jab the bottom of the base various times. This will prevent the pastry from rising.
Put the parchment paper over the top of the pastry and pour the beans on top to weigh it down.
Step 4:
Bake the pastry: Place the pie mold in the oven with the pumpkin and bake for 20 minutes.
Step 5:
Remove from the oven: When the pastry crust is golden brown, take it out of the oven. Test the pumpkin to see if it's done by piercing it with a fork. It needs to be completely soft to make the puree. Remove it from the oven and discard the foil. Take the beans off the pastry and leave it and the pumpkin to cool.
Finally, raise the temperature of the oven to 210 degrees centigrade or gas mark 6.
Step 6:
Make the pumpkin puree: Spoon the cooked pumpkin into the jug and using the hand blender, blend into a puree.
Step 7:
Prepare the pie filling: In a large bowl mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, lemon zest and salt. Now, whisk the eggs, add them to the other ingredients and stir. Pour in the pumpkin puree and cream and stir well.
Step 8:
Bake: Pour the filling into the pastry crust, almost to the top. Carefully place it into the centre of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160ºC and bake for a further 35 minutes.
Step 9:
Remove from the oven: When the pie is fully cooked remove it from the oven and allow it to cool and set.
Step 10:
Serve: The pie can be eaten warm or cold and served dusted with icing sugar and with a dollop of whipped cream.
You probably take pumpkin pie from canned pumpkin for granted. You're there, the can is there, there's a pumpkin on the label... open it and mix it up with spices to make a pie, right? Ah, but a pumpkin pie made from a fresh pumpkin tastes so much better. Pumpkin pie is just one of the traditional Halloween food craved for every month of October, and making it homemade makes it more delightful to serve. Here's a recipe on how to make homemade pumpkin pie or specifically how to make homemade pumpkin pie from scratch.
The cooking procedure is quite lengthy and the video is slow. But still the quality of the output is worth your while. Watch the full video from Youtube by April Bailey.
Ingredients: (per pie)
2 cups cooked pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup light cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 deep dish pie shell
Cooking video:
Cooking procedure:
Set I. Preparing the pumpkin.
Start with two pumpkins, about 3 lbs each.
Thoroughly wash the outside of each.
With a large sharp knife, split each pumpkin down the middle.
Using a large spoon, scoop out all of the seeds and pith of the pumpkin. Do not scrape too far into the flesh of the pumpkin.
Place the halves of the pumpkin on a cookie sheet lined with foil so that the skin side is facing up.
Place pumpkin halves into a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, rotate cookie sheets from one shelf to another to allow even cooking.
Cook for an additional 30 minutes. A butter knife should be able to be inserted through the skin with no effort at all.
Leave pumpkin halves on cookie tray and allow to cool part way - approximately 20 minutes.
Once partially cooled, place pumpkin half on a cutting board and begin to scoop out all of the flesh. (You will see dark spots around the rim of the pumpkin. This is OKAY! It's the sugar that have caramelized. be sure to include!)
Place the flesh into a bowl and allow to cool further. There will be a lot of juice which needs to be kept in the bowl.
While the pumpkin cools, prepare your cheese cloth and colander set-up. Cut cheese cloth into strips of approximately 18 inches.
Place a large colander into a pot or deep bowl.
Open each cheesecloth strip to its full spread, then refold it in half to form a double-layered sheet. Place over the colander.
Place the second cheesecloth sheet over the first but with the corners positioned in-between those of the first sheet.
Take the cooled pumpkin and place spoonfuls into a blender until it's filled about 2/3 full. (NOTE: DO NOT use HOT pumpkin - it will explode from the pressure of the blender!)
Set the blender to puree or blend until the pumpkin looks like baby food.
Pour pumpkin puree into cheesecloth that has been placed over colander.
Find the opposite corners of the top-most layer of cheesecloth and tie them in a knot pulling as tightly as possible.
If pumpkin squeezes out the other part, that's okay. Take the opposite corners and tie them over the first knot.
Now, take two opposite corners of the bottom layer of cheesecloth and repeat the process. Take the final two corners and tie. (You will probably have some pumpkin that had escaped the cheesecloth at this point. Don't worry!)
Remove the pumpkin, put one more layer of cheesecloth (folded as before) in the colander and flip the ball in knot-side down.
Again, tie off the corners as before, pulling as tightly as you can.
Juice should be running down the colander by now. Pour this out then place heavy plates on top to press down more.
Let the pumpkin sit and drain in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
After several hours of draining and pressing, the pumpkin should look something like a tight ball in the cheesecloth.
Carefully cut the cheesecloth near the knots and remove the pumpkin.
Set II. Preparing the other ingredients.
Set out your other ingredients.
Gently beat the eggs and mix with cream in one bowl.
Pour all the dry ingredients together in another bowl and thoroughly mix.
Add the combined dry ingredients to the pumpkin and mix thoroughly. (The pumpkin should take on a nice dark color when the ingredients are all incorporated.)
Begin adding the cream mixture to the pumpkin mix. Do this in small amounts (about 1/2 cup) at a time.
The pumpkin will begin to loosen as you add more of the cream mixture. (After adding all the cream mixture, the pumpkin will take on a silky appearance. Perfect!)
Place two deep dish pie crusts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Set your oven to 400 degrees F. (If you use frozen pie shells, DO NOT precook them.)
With a ladle, carefully begin placing pumpkin mixture into each pie shell.
Fill each shell as close to the top as possible and use the ladle to even out any high spots.
Carefully place pies in oven on middle rack and bake until a butter knife inserted in the middle comes out clean (40-45 minutes).
Remove pies from oven and place on a cooling rack.
