Carrot-Pumpkin Juice for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make pumpkin and carrot juice? Use a freshly harvested pumpkin — it'll be juicier than last year's. The carrots should be tasty and sweet too. Wash the vegetables under running water. I use freshly squeezed lemon juice, but store-bought works too.

2. Step 2:

   

   Peel the carrots and cut them into medium pieces. Put them in a blender.

3. Step 3:

   

   Peel the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. I find a vegetable peeler handy for the skin, but a regular knife works; an ordinary tablespoon does the job for the seeds.

4. Step 4:

   

   Cut the pumpkin into medium pieces too.

5. Step 5:

   

   Put the pumpkin in the blender. A juicer is even better here if you have one.

6. Step 6:

   

   Blend the vegetables into a smooth purée. It comes out thick, which makes sense — pumpkin and carrots aren't the juiciest vegetables.

7. Step 7:

   

   Tip the purée into a colander lined with two layers of sturdy cheesecloth.

8. Step 8:

   

   Squeeze out the juice. I got about 500 ml. Aim to get as much juice as you can while still leaving enough pulp in it: if you strain it too clear, it won't look as nice — the pulp settles to the bottom and the top goes clear, as if it were watered down.

9. Step 9:

   

   Here's how much pulp I had left in the end. Set some aside to adjust the juice's thickness later; the rest you can use in something like millet porridge.

10. Step 10:

    

    Pour the juice with its pulp into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring it to a boil over low heat. Check the thickness — at this point you can stir in some of the reserved pulp if you happened to squeeze out too much.

11. Step 11:

    

    While the juice comes to a boil, sterilize the bottles (or jars) however you like. Here's my method: I pour about a centimeter of plain tap water into each and microwave them for 3 minutes at 800 watts so the water boils. Just pour boiling water over the lids.

12. Step 12:

    

    Add the lemon juice to the boiling juice.

13. Step 13:

    

    Then the sugar. Skim off any foam. Cook for another 2–3 minutes until the sugar fully dissolves. Taste it and add more sugar if you like. On to the next step.

14. Step 14:

    

    Pour the juice into the bottles and seal them. I ended up with two 300 ml bottles. Turn the bottles upside down, wrap them in a warm blanket until completely cool, then move them to a cool pantry.