I love roasted pumpkin seeds and for some reason this is always the only day of the year I do it. Today, as an experiment, I tried the method from Simply Recipes where you boil the seeds in highly-salted water first, and then roast at 400F. This provides a “more balanced salt distribution,” as Heidi put it.
The result was good, I will say that. I split my seeds into three batches, one which was roasted with no additional spices, one which was dusted with a mix of ground coriander seeds, ground cumin seeds, and ground cayenne pepper, and one that was dusted with curry powder.
However, I learned that I don’t want more balanced salt distribution! I not only love the look of the salt crystals on the roasted seeds, I love the haphazard explosion of salt you get when you pop one (or 10) in your mouth. So in future I am going back to my usual method of cleaning the seeds, seasoning them, and roasting them at 375F in a touch of olive oil.
Happy Halloween ya’ll. I hope you had a fun one. Below are the two victims who gave up their seeds for our enjoyment. I love the little guy on the left — he was modeled after a pumpkin drawing that munchkin gave to me.
I only roast pumpkin seeds once a year too, but then I only buy whole fresh pumpkins at Halloween time 🙂
Cool faces on your pumpkins!
I like your “victims”.
The carvings are very “old school”.
No electric pumpkin carvers for Giff!
Happy Halloween, Pepitas!
heheheh yeah I’m old school. Me, a gourd, and a kitchen knife. The seeds will be running in the streets tonight!
I love the seeds too. We tried something different this year too & soaked them overnight in salt water before roasting them. I love the old school (no template) pumpkins!
Roasted pumpkin seeds are my favorite fall “cocktail snack.” You have to have something to wash them down with! I’d like to try your seasonings on them.
I totally agree with you. I learned about the salt water boil method and did it for a couple of years before I realized I preferred the unevenly salted ones I originally made.
Wow – look at that beautiful, orange color. I want a handful right now!
Lovely pumpkin carving and the seeds must have tasted great. I roasted the pumpkin seeds for the first time. I boiled them for five minutes (without salt) and then I roasted them with only coarse sea salt. They were great and didn’t even need to peel them. Next time I shall try your seasoning.