Despite having roasted pumpkin seeds most autumns when younger, I’ve never got around to making them myself. While I delight in carving pumpkins (this year’s jack o’ lantern is Silas: he is happy to meet you), usually the task of roasting seeds fell to someone else, or else slipped by the wayside in the tangle of orange sinew and pumpkin guts.
So it was a bit of a surprise when I was cleaning off seeds and realized I hadn’t ever cooked these simple snacks. No time like the present. After floating off the seeds from Silas’ scraped out internals, the seeds were thrown in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Oven to 300°, and I spread out the seasoned seeds on the tin foil-lined cookie sheet that lives in my oven. Shake the seeds on tray to make sure they’re evenly spread out, or as close to an even distribution as you care to invest time. Bake for 45 minutes.
That’s it; it’s a remarkably simple snack to fix, literally roasting pumpkin seeds to yield roasted pumpkin seeds. Seemed kind of self-explanatory after I googled a quick recipe and found the answer the above. Around the twenty minute mark I turned over and shuffled the seeds, but I didn’t need to be so vigilant. I could’ve used a sweeter spice, or honey, but they turned out, and Silas’ guts produced about a litre of spicy, crunchy seeds.
A simple recipe to remember for all Halloweens to come.