My Secret Ingredient!

I just have to share my favorite ingredient: pumpkin puree!

It's not just for pie, cake or bread, although you can use it for that too. ;-)

I like to add it to soups to give a thicker texture, especially a tomato-based soup since they tend to be a bit runnier. The pumpkin mixes well with tomato and helps take away some of the acidic "bite" that you usually have to add sugar or honey for.

For tomato sauce on my pizza, I add in the pumpkin puree. I really like the texture and flavor it adds to my cooked down tomatoes... that's how I make sauce. Pull frozen tomatoes out of the freezer, cook them down, and use my stick blender to make it smooth. You could strain out the seeds and bits of skin, but I don't... just another step.

I also add pumpkin puree to ground meats as well, if I'm going to do a filling like in sandwiches, crepes or tortillas, because it helps the meat stick together a bit more so it's not so sloppy. In my opinion, the flavor is plain enough to not overpower any seasoning you'd want to use.

And my ulterior motive(s) for all this pumpkin use? I've got a lot in my freezer. And it adds more nutrition. And I plan on adding a LOT more pumpkin to my freezer next year because we've got these awesome looking heirloom seeds for a different kind of pumpkin, I can't wait to get them in the garden and growing!

Okay, so it's not such a secret anymore... but I thought it was a pretty good idea, so I thought I'd share!