As a kid, I remember that after the pumpkin patch and the pumpkin carving came the roasted pumpkin seeds. I don’t actually remember if this was my favorite part, but it was certainly a nice routine. My family and I would go to the pumpkin patch where us kids could pick out any pumpkin we wanted as long as we could carry it ourselves. My little sister violated this rule once and proceeded to drop her pumpkin down the hill we lived on as soon as we got home. Being the big sister I was (and still am), I ran down that street chasing the pumpkin and managed to bring it back with just a few scratches. But I digress (honestly, I’m probably still bitter that she got away with not following the rules)… After the pumpkin patch, we would come home and carve our pumpkins. From what I remember, we were a pretty simple jack-o-lantern carving family–none of those intricate designs of faces or castles. As soon as the pulp and seeds were dumped out, my mom would get to work roasting them in the oven so that they would be done around the same time we finished carving. Yum!
Over the years, though, I had gotten lazy and failed to do anything with the pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin carving was not customary in Switzerland so I didn’t really have any pumpkin seeds around during my college years anyway. Last year, I bought and cooked a lot of whole pumpkins but never did anything with the seeds. This year, though, one of my close friends from grad school has re-introduced me to the savoriness of pumpkin seeds. She loves pumpkin seeds and every time I talked about pumpkins, she kindly asked if she could have the seeds to eat. Of course, when I made them for her, I had to “taste” just one (or two or ten). All of these childhood pumpkin carving memories have come back and I have found a new favorite snack. Thanks, Chelsea! I have written out a tasty Chelsea-approved pumpkin seed roasting recipe below.
Here’s what you need:
all the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin (about 1 cup)
about 1 tablespoon of melted grass-fed butter or olive oil (enough to just barely coat the seeds)
salt to taste (maybe start off with a couple teaspoons)
Here’s how:
1. Once you scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and remove most of the pulp, lay the seeds out on a plate and let them dry overnight. A good way to separate the pulp from the seeds is to place them in a bowl of water and then, if you need to, get your hands in there to remove the seeds if they don’t do it on their own.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Melt the butter in a small bowl that will fit all the seeds. After the butter has melted, place the seeds in the bowl with the butter and make sure all the seeds get coated.
4. Place seeds on a baking sheet and sprinkle salt over them. If you think they are not salty enough, you can always add some salt after baking. Put seeds in the oven.
5. Let the seeds bake for about 45 minutes or until they turn brown. They may start popping…don’t let this scare you! The popping is ok as long as you remove them from the oven afterwards.
6. Eat them up like popcorn. Yes, you can eat the seeds whole.
Happy pumpkin seed eating!
Highly recommended with two spoons up!