Making Your Own Purée

Since sugar pumpkins and winter squash belong to the same family, they can be substituted for each other in most recipes, as long as the cook compensates for the fact that some cooked squashes (usually the larger ones) are wetter than others and may have to be drained or squeezed of water. For convenience and accuracy, I have used canned, unsweetened, unseasoned pumpkin here, but if time allows, you can make your own pumpkin or squash purée. A 5-pound squash or pumpkin will yield approximately 2 cups of purée.

Baking: Preheat oven to 375 F. cut pumpkin or squash in half (larger squashes may need to be quartered). Clean out seeds, stem, and stringy lining. Place the halves (or quarters) facedown on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake for about 1 ½ hours for a medium pumpkin or squash. Cool flesh, peel, and purée in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.