Cooked Pumpkin

1. Cut the peduncle out of the pumpkin. The peduncle is the part of the stem attached to the pumpkin. Angle all your cuts inward. This will allow you to easily lift the cut piece of your pumpkin out. If you angle one of your cuts outward, the piece of pumpkin will not fit out the hole you made.
2. Cut the pumpkin in half. Start at the top and cut down to the bottom seperately on each side. If it is a big pumpkin, you may want to cut it into quarters.
3. Scoop out the strings and seeds in the middle of the pumpkin. Smaller pumpkins are "fuller", while larger pumpkins have more empty space inside.
4. If there is a bump sticking up right at the bottom of the pumpkin, cut it off so the bottom of the pumpkin is more-or-less flat inside. If you leave it there it will get in the way.
5. Slice the halves (or quarters) of the pumpkin into pieces like an orange. The slices should bee between 1 - 2 inches (2 - 5 cm) at their widest.
6. Peel the slices of pumpkin. A vegetable peeler is best, but a knife will also work. Cut the peeled slice into segements about 2 inches (5 cm) long and put them in a big, microwaveable bowl. It works best if you do one slice at a time.
7. When you run out of pumpkin slices or your bowl is full, microwave the pumpkin on full power for 10 minutes. If you have more pumpkin and another bowl, you can cut up more while you wait.
8. After the 10 minutes, stir up the pieces with a big serving spoon. The ones of the bottom cook faster.
9. Reatedly microwave and stir the pumpkin until it is all cooked. When pumpkin is cooked, it is a slightly-golden yellow and very soft. You should be able to stick a fork in it with almost no resistance. However, the edge of the pumpkin that was next to the peel may stay a bit tougher, so try sticking the fork in both sides. This usually takes about 30 minutes of cooking.
10. Drain the water from the pumpkin. Save the water. Pumpkin water can be used in soup, buns, pizza, or similar just like potato water.
11. Blend the pumpkin with the handlblender until it is smooth.