Just spent (no exaggeration) 4 hours on these pumpkin seeds and damned if I’m not proud of them. Here’s the thing: my friends and I carved four pretty big pumpkins last night, one of which was actually pretty huge, so we had a lot of seeds to roast. By my count, we had 12 cups of seeds. And I have one oven. So it was a bit of an undertaking today, but since I’m nothing if not always willing to procrastinate, I set about to nobly shove my grading, reading, and paper-writing aside in favor of some diligent pumpkin seed roasting.
I poked around and discovered that it is nest to first boil and then roast the seeds. This makes them less starchy and apparently makes them less likely to burn in the oven. Good deal. So if you’re going to follow the Martina Plan for Awesome Pumpkin Seeds, here’s what you’ve got to do:
1. Put your seeds in a nice big pot with some well salted water. The ratio should be about 1/2 cup seeds to 2 cups water to 1 tsp salt. Or more salt, if you like it like that. Bring this to a boil and then, once it’s going, let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Toss your seeds with olive oil and seasonings and put on a cookie sheet in a nice, thin layer. Roast in a 400° F oven, on the top rack, for about 20 minutes. I recommend stirring them around once, about halfway through. The cooking time is really up to you, your toppings, and your tastes; I like my seeds pretty crisp, so I let them get very brown, which took about 25 minutes, but you can choose for yourself.
The really fun part was the toppings. I made three separate batches: a standard one, with salt, pepper, and rosemary, a spicy one, with a load of cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt, and then a sweet one, with nutmeg, cinnamon, and about two tbsp of sugar. They’re all so delicious! And since my friends had brought the pumpkins, I made little gifties to bring them tomorrow in thanks:
El Boyfriend and I rarely host gatherings at our place since it’s so small, but we made it work last night with just a few friends and I have to say, it was a total treat. In fact, I’m ready to do it again! How about all of you lovely people stop on by tonight and we’ll mix up something delicious? Sounds grand, right!
