Roasted Pumpkin & Squash Seeds

     

If you are looking to achieve a state of relaxation and contemplation but have a hard time not keeping your hands busy, roasting your own pumpkin and/or squash seeds is for you. It's easier than easy, but it does take a bit of time.

If you're roasting your own pumpkin or squash, in a very farmer gal fashion like me, you're only a hop, skip and a jump away from roasting the seeds too. You'll start out with something like this:

Oooey, gooey and slimy. But that will all change soon.

This is where the time for relaxing and contemplating the mysteries of life comes in, because separating these seeds from the stringy gooeyness takes a bit of time, and it's mindless work so it's the perfect opportunity to think about the purpose of life, or why the sky is blue, or why women can't put on mascara with their mouths shut. Really deep thoughts like that. 

Luckily, I think I did stumble upon a little trick to expediate the process, in a backwards way. I didn't have time to roast my pumpkin seeds right after I scooped them out, so I put the bowl of seeds and gooeyness into the refrigerator and left it there for a couple days. When I took them out to separate the seeds from the stringy pulp, they seemed to come apart much easier than the squash seeds that I had just separated a few minutes before, which were fresh out of the squash.

I say this is backwards because, in actuality, the process took longer than if I would have tended to roasting my pumpkin seeds right away... Letting them sit in the fridge takes some time, obviously. However, when it came time to do the separating it went much faster.

Bottom line: find yourself a little place in the sunshine, get comfortable, and slide your fingers into the seedy milyew and separate the seeds from the stringy pulp.

The next step is to boil the seeds. Use enough water so that you have about three times as much water as seeds, i.e. if you have around a cup of seeds, use three cups of water. This is not an exact science. Guesstimating is perfectly acceptable.

Boil the seeds for 10-15 minutes, then strain. 

The next step is to oil and salt the seeds before spreading on a pan to roast. Some recipes call for you to slather oil on the pan, then put the seeds on it, then sprinkle with salt. I like to mix up my seeds with the oil and salt before putting them on the pan because I think it gives more uniform coverage of the oil and salt on the seeds.

My rule of thumb is this: for every cup of seeds, mix with one tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. (Again, not an exact science.) You can get creative and add in garlic salt, chili powder, or all kinds of crazy spices, but for me, well I just like plain old salt. It enhances the flavor of the seeds without changing it. 

After stirring together your seeds with salt and olive oil, spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and spread the seeds on the pan like such...

   

 Try to spread the seeds in a single even layer. Cook the seeds at 250 degrees, checking their progress and stirring every 15 minutes or so. The seeds will take roughly an hour to roast, but may take a shorter or longer amount of time depending on the type and size of the seeds. Again, no exact science here, but you'll  have to keep an eye on them. You'll know they're done when they are crisp and look like this... 

Toasty, slightly browned, happy little seeds. And most importantly, slime-free! That's all there is to it. You can eat as a tasty snack, mix in with breads or muffins, or sprinkle on soups like Roasted Squash Bisque. Let your imagination run wild!