This year’s jack-o-lanterns are scared and scary, but both were filled with many, many pumpkin seeds. If you haven’t carved yours yet, there’s still time to do so and to roast the seeds for snacking. Another kind of free food (if you’re making a jack-o-landtern, anyway)!
The way we do it around here is to rinse the seeds and remove strings; soak for a while it salt water; and roast in a single layer on a pan at 350 or 375 until crisp, about 15-20 minutes. Or, if we’re feeling really lazy, we’ll just toss the wet seeds onto a pan, sprinkle salt on them and roast.
If you’d like something a little more detailed or inventive, try these options:
- A basic recipe plus links to more at Allrecipes.com.
- Elise’s version at Simply Recipes.
- Snazzier variations at 101cookbooks.com.
- The Reluctant Gourmet’s version, featuring butter (which I’ve never used).
- A spicy version via Emeril Lagasse.
Do you roast pumpkin seeds? What’s your method?
Seánan // Oct 31, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I’m lazy. After I rinse them, I spread them out and let them dry. When I remember them, I always make them spicy, with a little bit of salt. The kind of heat varies with my mood. I haven’t tried curry . . . yet. Smoky peppers are a frequent favorite. A couple of years ago, I used soya sauce, sesame oil and Szechuan pepper. That was nice. Last year, I went with mixed hot pepper and garlic. The oil is usually olive. Sadly, however I season them, the seeds never last long.