Name: Stewed Squash or Pumpkin for Pies
Ingredients: Medium, deep-colored pumpkin; A little water

Stewed Squash or Pumpkin for Pies

Ingredients

Medium, deep-colored pumpkin
A little water

Directions

Prepare the pumpkin

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.
Slice the pumpkin into thick pieces, pare the outside, and cut into small pieces.

Stew the pumpkin

Place half of the pumpkin in a granite saucepan with a little water.
Cook slowly until tender.
Set the pan on the back of the stove and cook slowly, stirring often, until the moisture is dried out and the pumpkin looks dark and red.
This process takes at least half a day for a dry and rich texture.

Finish

When cool, press the pumpkin through a colander.
The other half of the pumpkin can be dried for future use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Pumpkin: Provides the bulk, sweetness and body of the purée once its moisture has cooked off.
Water: Adds a little initial moisture so the pumpkin softens gently without scorching.

The step that matters

Stewing until the moisture is dried out. Cooking slowly and stirring often concentrates the pumpkin's sugars and flavour and darkens it, while removing excess water. Stopping early leaves a wet, pale purée that is less rich and can make pie filling runny.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.