Preheat the oven to 180° C / 160° C (convection oven).
You can leave the skin on the pumpkin. Cut it in half, depending on the size also in quarters, with a sharp knife and remove the seeds and the inner strings with a tablespoon. You can save the pumpkin seeds and roast them later.We show you 2 ways of cooking your pumkin.
Baked pumkin (more complex in flavour):
Place the pumpkin pieces with the cut edge down (skin up) on a baking tray. Bake them for about 30 minutes on the middle shelf until the pumpkin flesh is very soft. Take the pumpkin pieces out of the oven, let them cool briefly and spoon the flesh into a bowl. It should be really creamy and soft.
Cooked pumkin:
Peel the pumpkin or cut out the flesh and chop it coarsely. Put the pieces in a pot with 1 Tablespoons of water, cover with a lid and simmer them for about 30 minutes until soft.
Now the pumpkin puree is ready for further processing. Add spices like salt, pepper, nutmegs and butter or cream (see more tipps in the note section) and puree everything once with the blender.
Notes
Ideas for seasoning:
You can refine the puree with butter or a dash of cream.
Add chilli or cayenne pepper for spiciness
Add a little coconut milk and grated fresh ginger to the puree. Season everything with a little lemon or lime juice.
A dash of orange juice, salt and a pinch of nutmeg give the puree a fruity touch.
Mix with cooked potatoes to make a potato-pumpkin puree.
Add caramelised onions, garlic and chopped herbs and refine with milk or cream.