The morning air is cool and crisp, a sign that fall is at our doorsteps. With the change in seasons in Montreal and Quebec brings a change in the local fruits and veggies. A variety of squashes and pumpkins have begun to fill many market stands with the arrival of the fall season. Squashes and pumpkins can be peeled and boiled to be enjoyed mashed with some butter and spices. However, boiling extracts many of the valuable nutrients from fruits and veggies, leaving you with a side dish devoid of many essential vitamins and minerals. There are healthier ways to enjoy them. You can peel, and dice them up to roast them. Then, the roasted squash can be added to salads or stuffings. You can also roast squashes and pumpkins to mash them later. In fact, it is actually much easier to roast a pumpkin, than it is to peel and boil it. Here is how you roast a pumpkin for mashing.
How to roast and mash a sugar pumpkin:
- Split the pumpkin in half, lengtwhise.
- Scoop out the pumpkin seeds (save these to toast later!) and loose stringy bits.
- Place each pumpkin half, cut side down, on a baking sheet that has been covered in foil and greased.
- Roast for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the size of your pumpkin). The pumpkin is done when you can easily pierce through the skin and flesh with a fork.
- Cool completely.
- Scoop out the flesh and purée in a food processor so that the pumpkin is nice and smooth.
Tips:
- Remember that the pumpkins for eating are not the same variety as the pumpkins that we carve at Hallowe'en. When you go to purchase a pumpkin to eat, ask for a "sugar pumpkin," also known as a "sugar pie pumpkin." Pumpkins of this variety are smaller and more flavorful than the larger ones.
- A 3-kg sugar pumpkin will yield roughly 7 cups of mashed pumpkin.
- Freeze it in 1- to 2-cup batches in Ziploc bags.
For other ways to enjoy pumpkins and squashes:
- Recette du Québec offers a number of interesting recipes that you can choose from.
- La Courgerie is a farm that rows squashes and pumpkins and you can visit their farm, and pick squashes and pumpkins from their gardens. Their website also provides a number of great recipes.
Comments
I had no idea there were two kinds of pumpkin!! Thanks for the education!
The nice thing about the sugar pumpkins is that. although they are smaller, they have thicker walls and therefore you get more pumpkin out of even the small ones. I think the carving pumpkins were bred to have thinner walls that are easier to carve.
Can I get sugar pumpkins at a regular grovery store? I don't think I've ever seen them.
I have never seen sugar pumpkins in any of the Montreal grocery stores I've been to. I've only seen the big carving pumpkins. The markets definitely have them in the stands with the squashes, separate from the carving pumpkins.
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