Cooking with Kelly: Pumpkin Marmalade Recipe

The precious

Pumpkin season is upon us! Rather than make another pumpkin cookie/bread/muffin recipe, I wanted to think outside the box for something new and different. I had a pumpkin that we never carved, so I set out to make good use of it.  First, I took out the seeds and toasted them because the store-bought kind just can't compare.

Once that messy business was done, I set out to make a marmalade. I scoured the interwebs to find a recipe and didn't find anything that I liked, so I decided to execute a kitchen experiment.

The end results were delicious. This yields an unusual marmalade featuring a pop of citrus the perfectly complements the earthiness of the pumpkin. It is, of course, sweet, but not overpoweringly so. I tried this toasted on Italian white bread, but I imagine it would be great over a roast pork tenderloin or stirred into morning oats. Maybe even a new way to class up a PB&J? The sky's the limit here.

Pumpkin Marmalade Recipe
1 large pumpkin
4 cups sugar
1 orange

Look at that color!

1 lemon
A 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons pectin (in the canning section of WalMart or a hardware store)

Start be cleaning out the pumpkin. I removed and toasted the seeds, scrapped out the stringy stuff and peeled the skin with a regular vegetable peeler. Then, chop into bite-sized pieces. Put everything in a bowl and cover with the sugar and stir. Let this sit overnight a stir it a few times.

Overnight, the pumpkin will give off its liquid. Drain this liquid into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then cook for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, zest the lemon and orange over the pumpkin. Then, peel and chop the fruits and throw the ginger, cinnamon and fruits into the pumpkin.

After the liquid has cooked for 10 minutes, add the pumpkin mixture back in and cook on high for 40 minutes. The pumpkin will eventually start to look translucent. Add the pectin and cook for another five minutes.

At this point, you could blend some of the mixture for a smoother texture of leave as is. Cut the heat and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before ladling into jars and refrigerating.