Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I’m beginning to sense a theme here; many of my favourite recipes involve roasting something!  This time it’s pumpkin seeds, and they make a delicious nutritious snack. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein, magnesium and zinc, and if you skip adding salt, they are low in sodium.

My Pumpkin harvest 2011

This year I grew two varieties of “hulless” seeded pumpkins, you can read about them in my post Vegetable Garden Plans for 2011.  The first batch that I’ve roasted is from the Kakai pumpkins, which is supposed to have large green hulless seeds inside an orange and green striped pumpkin.

Kakai pumpkins

Well I waited and waited, but they didn’t develop any orange stripes.  The vines died and the pumpkins were still green, so I cut one open to see how well-developed the seeds were, and…

Kakai pumpkin seeds

I found plenty of big green seeds, but they aren’t hulless, in fact the hulls are dark green and the seeds inside are white.  At first I was a little disappointed because I was hoping for those plump green pumpkin seeds that I buy at the supermarket, but I roasted them anyways and…

Roasted pumpkin seeds

They are EXCELLENT!  I’ve roasted the seeds of almost every pumpkin I’ve carved for jack-o-lanterns or cooked down for pumpkin purée for the past 25 or 30 years (and that’s a lot of pumpkins) and I have to say that these are the best yet.  The hulls are soft and easy to chew, none of that splintery, gum shredding torture that some pumpkin seeds can inflict, and the flavour is deliciously creamy and nutty.

My recipe is simple:

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin flesh and rinse well

Soak overnight in salted water

Strain and pour onto a cookie sheet, single layer

If you like, sprinkle with a little sea salt

You might also like to season with garlic powder, paprika, cayenne or whatever you like but I don’t like to cover up the pumpkin taste.

Roast in a low oven (300f) for a couple of hours or until they’re thoroughly dry and crunchy, the time can vary quite a bit depending on your oven and the moisture content of the seeds so you’ll have to taste test.  Overcooking results in dry seeds with a scorched flavour so don’t overdo it!

Perfect for my Halloween jack-o-lantern