Peter Peter Pumpkin-Eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
If only he'd made her some Pumpkin Ketchup.
I bet she would have stuck around.
For pumpkin ketchup, you can use either fresh "pie" pumpkins or canned pumpkin, and you'll achieve very similar results. Having options makes this project seem easier already, doesn't it?
After roasting "Sugar Pie" pumpkins, I scooped the pumpkin flesh out of the shell. Each one of these pumpkin halves pictured here usually yield about two cups of flesh...
...which is about the same as one 15 oz. can of 100% pumpkin puree. Be sure you don't use pumpkin pie filling mix.
In two separate pans I combined pumpkin -- a 15 ounce can of pumpkin in one pan, and 2 cups of fresh-baked pumpkin in another -- plus apples, onions, brown sugar, vinegar, and a variety of spices. I cooked both of these mixtures until the chunks of apples and onions were soft.
The canned pumpkin, shown both above and below, isn't as dense as the baked Sugar Pie pumpkin flesh.
Again this is canned pumpkin, shown above.
Notice the difference in texture of the fresh-baked pumpkin, below.
After simmering on the stove for about an hour, here are the two nearly identical mixtures alongside each other.
At this point, I could have cooked the canned pumpkin blend longer, to help the liquid to evaporate, but I decided to run it through the food mill
Using a food mill
Once again, I ask the question:
"Who says ketchup has to be made from tomatoes?"
Pumpkin Ketchup has a very similar taste profile to classic tomato ketchup. You might not be a squash fan, but I think if I could get you to taste Pumpkin Ketchup and Tomato Ketchup side-by-side, you'd be willing to trade out the traditional tomato stuff for this nummy new-fangled sauce.
By the way, this ketchup was delicious with another one of my fall favorites, Oven Baked Butternut Squash Fries.
Did I mention I love squash?
Did I even need to?