Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pumpkin Seeds...Roasted Pumpkin


I bought two sugar pumpkins because they are so darn cute! Those are those little round ones that they sell at the grocery stores around October/November time frame. I don't eat pumpkin pie, but if I did, this is the stuff I'd use to make it. After sitting on my counter for a while, I finally cut these babies up and roasted them.



Aren't they cute?

** I just cut them into chunks, scooped out the seeds and stringy gunk, put them flesh side down on a baking sheet, added 1.5 cups of water to the baking sheet and cooked them in the oven at 375 degrees for a little over an hour.**



Roasted pumpkin!

I scooped out the flesh from the skins and pureed the roasted pumpkin, and now it's waiting in my fridge to be put to good use! I'm thinking a Harvest Tea Loaf, which is like a sweet bread, and maybe some yummy pumpkin muffins.



Pureed pumpkin

The major joy for me, however, was to find out how many seeds came out of these little gourds! I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few. Roasted pumpkin seeds are one of my very favorite snacks of all times. I gutted my pumpkins, cleaned the seeds, got all the gook off, and then let them dry out overnight on a plate until they were perfectly dry and ready for roasting. Today, I fired up the oven, added my seasonings and 15 short minutes later, I have a wonderfully delightful, spicy, nutty treat!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:
1.5 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp salt, plus a little extra after cooking
2 tsp pepper
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. On a baking sheet, mix the seeds, garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, pepper and the olive oil. Mix everything really well.

3. Roast for 15 minutes in the oven. Immediately remove the seeds and use a spatula to move them around on the pan. Finish with a little extra salt and mix.

ENJOY!

3 comments:

  1. Finally found me some pumpkins :) Every store seems to pull them off the shelf as soon as the calendar reads November 1st. I'm going to roast some seeds and use the purée for my pumpkin bread!

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  2. Yea!! Mine turned out so good! I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! They were tasty and good for you, too!

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  3. i just pulled out my bread :0) it is yummy!!! Onto the seeds ;- ) yippee!

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