Walking through the grocery store during the fall season can feel like you're viewing the world through orange-colored glasses. Everything was once a myriad of vibrant, eye-catching colors, and as the -ber months arrive, the bags, boxes, and bottles all become orange-clad — because they've been pumpkin-fied. Food companies are nifty in their creative ability to think of how they can get their products to adapt to the pumpkin spice movement.
If they can, so can you. When you carve your jack-o-lanterns this season, don't toss those stringy pumpkin guts. There are numerous ways to turn those flavor-packed fibers into other means of imparting a pumpkin's gourd-y taste.
The end product is similar to a typical canned pumpkin purée, and from there, you can add it to pumpkin-fy a wide array of dishes. Combine the purée with heavy cream, autumnal spices, and leftover pasta water to create a soothing, creamy pasta sauce. Mix the purée into salted butter, and add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and granulated sugar to create a pumpkin spice butter (not to be confused with ).
More ways to get at those pumpkin guts Instead of blitzing the pumpkin guts into a purée, turn it into a pumpkin-flavored stock, or use them for a homemade vegetable stock along with other vegetables. Like , sauté the pumpkin guts in oil, add water, and let it simmer down until the stock is flavorful and ready. This pumpkin stock can be used to infuse its flavor into fall dishes like a butternut squash soup or.
