Never again will I put the seeds of this wonderful vegetable into the worm bin!
We have discovered the true delight of roasted pumpkin seeds. So simple, and Kim, Ben and I all agreed that they tasted somewhere between roasted peanuts and popcorn and oh so healthy a treat.
It all started out when I cut open one of the Golden Nugget pumpkins I grew. Kim made some home made sausage rolls and I thought that they would go nice with some roasted pumpkin, potatoes, and some steamed runner beans.
When I cut open the pumpkin, I had never seen seeds so plump and fat. I thought to myself that there must be something I can do with these. I knew I couldn’t use them to plant next year because there was a very good chance that the pumpkins cross pollinated with each other, so they wouldn’t grow true to type.
So, after our yummy dinner, I decided to do a quick search on the net for a recipe. A few fancy ones came up like candied pumpkin seeds, but I was after something a little more rustic and simple. How hard can it be to roast a pumpkin seed?
Well, not very hard at all so it seems. I took as much of the pumpkin pulp off the seeds as I could, gave them a quick wash and dried them with a clean tea towel. Then I put them into a ramekin and tossed through 1 Tbspn of Olive oil and quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt.
I spread them out onto baking paper and put them into a pre-heated oven at 140°C.
After 15 minutes they should be brown but not burnt. I let them cool on the tray and then we simply ate them all up in no time flat.
So easy to make and a shame to waste what I wouldn’t have hesitated to throw in the worm bin in the past. I am now a humble convert of the roasted pumpkin seed. I can’t wait to crack open one of the Australian Butter pumpkins to get to the bounty of seedy goodness.
Who needs peanuts when you can have these? You can’t get a more local snack than that!
Snap, thats exactly what I did last night with my ONE AND ONLY pumpkin. Actually the pumpkin was tasteless but the roasted seeds are fantastic and Red Kuris have millions of seeds.
Great mind think alike Deb! I am kicking myself that I had not discovered this simple delight years earlier.
My kids LOVE the roasted seeds. Try seasoning them with different things like garlic powder…YUMM
YUM! I have roasted pumpkin seeds on hand at all times. Love them.
Last pumpkin harvest I gave half of the seed to the chickens because, I learned they naturally rid chickens of worms and parasites. While I do not have such a problem with my chickens I did give them some. They loved them. I also gave my chickens all the scraps left over after baking pumpkins. I did give them a couple of whole fresh pumpkins also.
I had read about the natural effect of pumpkin and seeds in ‘Backyard Poultry’ Magazine.
Gav, this works well with most squash seeds too. I never throw out a pumpkin/squash seed. Even seeds form Jack-O-Latern type pumpkins (the ones you don’t eat) roast up yummy. I save them after roasting and sprinkle them on root vegetable soups and salads. Mange!
Thanks for describing the process Gavin. I have had no success with pumpkins this year. So will have to get some at the markets. I will be saving all my seeds and roasting them. I have heard that pumpkin seeds help humans get rid of worms too.
Probably be added to your LSA as well. Yummo!
I have been roasting pumpkin seeds since I was a child. We clean them of the guts, then allow them to dry on clean flour sacks for a day or two, then we toss them with some oil, garlic, salt, and cayenne and roast away. Until this year I didn’t know pumpkin seeds had an outshell, because we always ate them whole, but now I hear of Naked Pumpkin Seeds and I wonder what they are like. I like my pumpkin seeds whole, if nothing else that outer shell is fiber and it takes longer to chew the treat (actually causing one to eat less)
We used to make these at Halloween as part of the carving the pumpkin ritual- delicious- i couldn’t agree more. Never throw those babies away! xo m.
I can’t bake these fast enough for the kids, they eat them like lollies (only better!). I also roast cooked chick peas amongst other things, yummo.
What a great idea. I never knew you could do that with pumpkin seeds. I’ve never been a fan of the actual Pumpkin flesh (it has always tasted watery and bland), but I’ll definitely give this a go.