Melissa Brown
Published: October 25, 2006
While carving our Halloween pumpkin this year – one side with a scary face, the other smiling – my three-and-a-half-year-old son wondered what we would do with “all those seeds and slimy stuff.” Unfortunately, the meat from a large carving pumpkin – the “slimy stuff” – is dry and tasteless. The seeds, however, are great for roasting, and there are oodles of toppings to please everybody.
After thoroughly separating the pumpkin seeds from the stringy meat, rinse the seeds and lay out on a kitchen towel. Cover with paper towels and let dry about an hour. Be sure to keep an eye on them, because the seeds will stick to the paper towels if they dry completely. Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake at 300ø for 1-1 « hours, stirring occasionally.
Salt-only roast
« C pumpkin seeds
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
Toss seeds with salt and oil.
Cajun-spiced
EITHER
1/8 tsp red/cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
OR
1 tsp salted Cajun seasoning
AND
« C pumpkin seeds
Dash of hot sauce
« tsp worcestershire sauce
« tsp olive oil
Mix seeds with dry seasonings, then stir in the hot sauce, worcestershire and oil.
Sweet mix
« C pumpkin seeds
2 tsp brown sugar
« tsp cinnamon.
1 Tb butter, melted
Toss seeds with sugar and cinnamon, and blend with butter.