You want to prepare a very good one baked pumpkin, but you don't know where to start? No problem, now we will see step by step what are the best ideas and techniques to prepare it step by step. Before proceeding, however, you will have to make a choice that will affect the entire preparation. You want to prepare a pumpkin to be served whole or do you want to taste the sliced ​​pulp?

Baked pumpkin: whole or sliced?

Here we are before the first dilemma. There are in fact many recipes to serve a good pumpkin in both ways and we advise you to choose according to the programs you have for the menu. The whole pumpkin is in fact perfect to bring to the table a spectacular dish, but also to contain other dishes like one cream of pumpkin, a pumpkin risotto or just one cream of melted cheeses. The case of pumpkin pulp is different. Once peeled and cut into slices and baked in the oven, pumpkin becomes the perfect ingredient for season the pasta, prepare delicious appetizers or, simply, be served as side dish.

How to make whole baked pumpkin

To prepare the whole baked pumpkin, first prepare it. Wash it well under running water, removing any earth residue from the peel, dry it and cut off the top. With a spoon, remove the inside of the filaments and seeds. With the same spoon, hollow out the pumpkin gently in order to obtain the pulp necessary for the preparation of the recipe that you will serve inside (pumpkin risotto, pumpkin soup or a filling based on pumpkin, bread and cheese).
Now Rub the inside of the pumpkin with a clove of garlic, brush it with extra virgin olive oil and perfume it to taste with rosemary, thyme and pepper. Bake at 160 ° C and let it cook for about an hour and a half. The cooking time is indicated for a medium pumpkin: it will grow if you have chosen a large pumpkin, while an hour will be enough if your baked pumpkin is small.

How to make pulp baked pumpkin

To prepare the pumpkin in the oven in pulp, we must first clean our pumpkin of the seeds and filaments, remove the peel and cut the pulp into regular slices or cubes. If you want a crunchy result, we advise you to opt for the pumpkin slices, while the cubed cut will allow your baked pumpkin to have a soft and buttery heart.
Once the pumpkin has been cut, place it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and season it to taste with salt, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, rosemary or thyme. Bake at 180 ° C and cook for about 30 minutes. If you have chosen a pumpkin with a thin skin, you can avoid eliminating it and cut it into wedges before putting it in the oven.
In case you have chosen to delete it, you can accompany it with other baked vegetables to enrich a pan that smells of autumnal garden. Green light for cabbage, broccoli, potatoes and onions, all cleaned and seasoned before being baked with pumpkin.

Don't throw away the pumpkin seeds!

In both preparations we deprived the pumpkin of its seeds, but it would be a real shame to throw them away! Once collected, separate them from the filaments and immerse them in a bowl with plenty of water. After about 30 minutes, remove the pulp residues with your hands and change the water. Repeat this after another 30 minutes. Now let them dry on a cloth for about three days, changing it often in order to facilitate the perfect drying of the seeds. At this point they are ready to be toasted! Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for about 40 minutes at 150 ° C. You can enrich them with a sprinkle of salt, make them even more appetizing by sprinkling them with paprika or curry or leave them natural to make them perfect for any recipe.