Another reason to used canned pumpkin:
“A 1997 study by the University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition found that canned fruits and vegetables provide as much dietary fiber and vitamins as the same corresponding fresh foods, and in some cases, even more. For example, canned pumpkin provides 540% of the Recommended Daily Intake of vitamin A, while fresh pumpkin only provides only 26%.”
It’s kinda neat to occasionally cook from ‘scratch’ just so you have a bit of awareness of what the heck you’re putting into your body plus an appreciation for the labor that goes into “real” food. If you have kids, I think it is especially nice to do this with them once or twice.
When making pumpkin pie from a pumpkin, it is essential to use a ‘pie’ pumpkin.
They are sold separately. Pie pumpkins are much sweeter and juicier.
I’ve cooked the pumpkin flesh both in the oven and on the stove. It came out pretty much the same both ways. Yum!
All the pumpkin pie recipes I could find actually contained very little pumpkin - it’s mostly a sort of baked, spiced egg custard tart.
I like roasted pumpkin soup - cut the pumpkin into ‘boats’ like you would a melon, brush with a little oil and roast in a hot voen until softened adn caramelised on the outside. Allow to cool and scrape the flesh away from the skin; simmer with ome chicken stock, onions and a potato (without the potato, the texture can easily turn slimy.