How to Prepare a Pumpkin for Soup

Before pumpkin soup can be cooked, the pumpkin must be prepared a certain way. Preparing a pumpkin to be used in soup is a simple task. Once the pumpkin is prepared, it can also be used for other recipes aside from soup such as pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Serrated knife
• Ice cream scoop
• Large pot with steamer insert or large microwaveable bowl
• Tablespoon

1. Wash the outside of the pumpkin thoroughly with water. Do not use soap.

2. Take the serrated knife and using a sawing motion slice the pumpkin in half. Cut off the pumpkin stem.

3. Take one of the pumpkin halves and scrape the inside of the pumpkin clean, using an ice cream scoop. Make sure to scrape the entire inside of the pumpkin so that it is completely clean and that all of the stringy material inside is removed. After the first half is scraped clean, do the same with the other pumpkin half.

4. Steam the pumpkin. To cook the pumpkin on the stove, put enough water in the large pot for steaming and place the steamer insert inside. Place the pumpkin in the steamer insert and start the stove to bring the pot to a boil. Steam the pumpkin for 8 to 12 minutes. The pumpkin is ready when the outer skin easily peels off.
   OR:
   Cook the pumpkin in the microwave. Place the pumpkin in a large microwaveable bowl. Add a few inches of water into the bowl and cover it. Microwave the pumpkin on high for 15 minutes then check to see if the pumpkin is soft enough to remove the innards. If more microwaving time is needed, continue to microwave in five-minute increments until it is ready. Total microwave time is usually between 20 and 30 minutes.

5. Take a tablespoon and carefully scoop the pumpkin and remove it from the outer skin after the pumpkin is cooked. If the pumpkin is cooked enough this step should be easy.

6. Place the cooked pumpkin into a bowl and puree it. The pumpkin can be pureed with a hand blender, a regular blender or even by hand using a whisk. Make sure the pumpkin is pureed enough into a smooth consistency. The pumpkin is now ready to be used for making pumpkin soup.

Tips & Warnings

• The pumpkin seeds can be saved for planting or roasting. To properly keep the seeds, put them in a bowl of water and, using your hands, rub the seeds so that you can pick out and dispose of the orange fleshy material. Drain the water from the bowl and place the seeds on a paper towel to dry. Using pie pumpkins are preferred because they are less grainy and sweeter. Pie pumpkins are smaller in size than the typical pumpkin.

References

• Pumpkin Patches and More

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