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.
I like to soak seeds overnight or boil them to cook them that day. It's not necessary to do this, but it changes the seed coat to make it more edible. If skipping this step, most people tend to spit out the coat (like sunflower seeds), as it's pretty woody to eat. They also burn much faster and it can start on the inside, so testing them out until you know what works with your oven is more important than eyeballing it.
- Boil in salt water for 10 minutes (go ahead and use a fair bit of salt!)
- Drain & pat dry
- In a small bowl add oil and seasonings, stir around.
- Lay in s single layer on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil/parchment paper (use the later if using sugar)
- Roast at 375F for 20 min, rotating the sheet in between - they lose their 'wet appearance' once done
Suggested toppings - just salt is good, salt & garlic powder, seasoning salt, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon sugar & nutmeg
Note - if salt isn't used when seasoning I find they don't crisp up quite the same, sometimes a few extra minutes for the non-salted ones helps
@soulsings I remember you were interested, I can't recall any of the others though, maybe you do?
@AffyAvo thanks for this. I appreciate the recipe. Now I need to get some pumpkins on discount after halloween. lol
@soulsings
hahahaha thats a good idea, I bought two last week, one to carve one to eat
@MistyMagic and two to toast seeds LOL.
I cooked up some fish chowder and hope to make a carob cake tomorrow. Wow winter is coming and the cooking spirit is returning
LOL
The rinsed seeds - still a bit of the orange stuff but not much.
Cooked seeds
@AffyAvo
thanks!
I'm loving this! I feel more inclined to definitely try roasted pumpkin seeds. Thank you for sharing, Affy!
@AffyAvo
thank-you!! I will roast mine this weekend