Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are one of the things I associate with Halloween and I love them so much! In a discussion I discovered some people were surprised that people eat pumpkin seeds so I thought I would share.

There are various ways to prepare them, I'll share one, but for now I'll start with just how to prep the seeds.

I do generally find carving pumpkins tend to be the best for the seeds, but any squash will work and I have roashed seeds when having spaghetti or butternut squash for dinner too.

The first step is to get all the soft stuff (not the 'meat' that is used for cooking) that contains the seeds into a bowl.

If carving the pumpkin, I recommend rubbing oil on your hands before scooping out all the guts. Especially if you have dry or sensitive skin, the pumpkin inners can be really rough on the skin. Please wash and dry your hands before continuning to carve though! Slippery hands and sharp tools don't mix!

If not carving the pumpkin, it's easiest to cut it in half and just scoop out with a spoon. The oil on the hands can wait after scooping so there is better grip on the spoon.

Now separate the seeds from the stringy stuff. Many of the seeds will already be loose, but some will still be connected to the strings. The seeds really in the middle of all that goo are likely ones that are not developed - they are flat so it's ok to skip those. Don't worry about trying to get all the orange off the seeds.

Next rinse the seeds in a large bowl, a good swirl in a bowl will usually remove most of the orange flesh. A little bit of orange stuff clinging to the seeds is fine, it crisps up good in the oven. Drain.

I'll be back to share how I cook them - there are a few different ways and the temps/times never totally match any recipe it seems so I'll share what works for me.