How To Make Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Have you ever made Roasted Pumpkin Seeds?

OH!       MY!       They are delicious!

The crunch...

                The salt...

                             The perfect little healthy snack...

Roasted pumpkin seeds are truly easy to prepare...no need to buy them.
Here's how to do it:

First, with a sharp knife, remove the top of the pumpkin.

Then cut it in half. 

Remove all the seeds and innards (guts) from the pumpkin.

Put the seeds and slime in a bowl.

Then gently pull the seeds and pumpkin guts away from each other as you rinse the seeds under running cool water in a mesh strainer.

Lay the seeds on a clean towel.

Pat the seeds dry with a towel.  Then leave to air dry for a little while (an hour or so).

You want the seeds to be dry before you proceed to roast them.

While the seeds were drying, I roasted the pumpkin to make homemade pumpkin puree.  Click here to see how I did it.

Put the pumpkin seeds in a bowl and toss them with some extra virgin olive oil (approximately 1 tablespoon of EVOO for every 1 cup of seeds.)

You want all the seeds to have some EVOO on them, but do not saturate them.

Lay the seeds out on a foil covered baking sheet (makes for easy clean up).

Sprinkle with salt...just plain 'ole table salt.

You could put other seasonings on them (like garlic powder, chili powder or cayenne pepper), but I'm a simple kinda girl AND I love the flavor combination of olive oil and salt.

Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Stir them every 10 minutes, making sure they roast evenly and that they do not burn.

Just look at those roasted pumpkin seeds.  They are simply stunning.  Shining in their olive oil glory and showing a sprinkling of salt.  Note to self: make some more ;-)

Enjoy them warm or store the cooled seeds in an airtight container to snack on later.

Fun little facts:

Pumpkin seeds are packed with zinc (a good for you mineral).

Pumpkin seeds are commonly known as Pepitas.  Pepita is a Spanish culinary term for pumpkin seed.

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