Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings

During Halloween, you're busy carving and hollowing out pumpkins, so why not make a healthy, delicious seasonal snack from the leftovers? Roasting pumpkin seeds is very easy and they are a great snack after you have finished cutting your pumpkin.

To step

1. Scoop all the stringy contents out of the pumpkin and place in a bowl. You can use your hands, a large spoon, or some other object to scrape with.
2. Separate the seeds from the flesh and the threads. It's not that easy. One way to do this is to put the seeds in a colander along with the pulp. Run the colander under running water and separate the seeds from the pulp by rubbing them between your fingers.
3. Put the seeds in a sieve or colander and throw away the rest.
4. Rinse the seeds with cold water. You can discard the pulp if you wish. Look for more information under the heading "Tips."
5. Soak the seeds in salt water (optional). The salt water deactivates the enzyme inhibitors in the seeds. These enzyme inhibitors can irritate your stomach and by removing them the seeds make more vitamins. Many traditional peoples such as the Aztecs soak pumpkin and gourd seeds in salt water before allowing them to dry. Many people also find that this significantly improves the flavor of the seeds.
   • Fill a large bowl about 2/3 full with water.
   • Add salt to the water until it is saturated.
   • Put the seeds in the salt water and let them soak for 8 to 48 hours.
   • Drain all the water from the bowl.
6. Dry the seeds with kitchen paper.
7. Season the seeds. Now you can let your creativity run wild. Here are some ideas:
   • Sprinkle the seeds with some more salt.
   • Pour a tablespoon of vegetable, olive or canola oil over each cup of the seeds until they are all coated with oil. This makes the herbs stick better.
   • Replace the oil with melted butter if necessary.
   • Season the seeds with crab herbs, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, cajun spices and / or other strong flavors for a hearty snack.
   • Season with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for a sweet snack.
   • Top with some sauce, such as hot sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and so on.
   • Consider other seasoning powders such as garlic powder, beefsteak seasoning, pasta seasoning and so on.
8. Spread the seeds on a baking tray or in a pizza pan. Make sure there is only one layer of seeds.
9. Roast the seeds. There are several ways to do this:
   • Roasting - Preheat the oven on the grill setting, so that only the top is heated. Place the plate in the preheated oven. Pay attention. Each oven roasts at a different temperature. This should usually not take longer than 10 minutes. Once the seeds on the top have turned brown you can do two things, depending on your preferences: (a) remove the tray from the oven now for seeds with a slightly crunchy and nutty texture or (b) remove the tray from the oven and turn the seeds over. Return the tray to the oven and roast the seeds for an additional 10 minutes or until browned. This gives you a very crunchy and salty kernel.
   • Baking - Preheat the oven to 163º C and put the pumpkin seeds in the oven until they are brown (about 20 to 25 minutes in total), shaking them every 5 to 10 minutes to prevent burning.
   • Microwave - Put the seeds in the microwave for 2 minutes. Take them out, stir in and return to the microwave for 1 minute. Keep stirring the seeds in the microwave after every minute until they are crispy enough.
   • Pan - Roast the seeds in a pan, constantly shifting them so that they are evenly roasted and do not stick to the pan.
10. Set the seeds aside to cool. Hot pumpkin seeds can burn your skin.
11. Ready.

Tips

• You can also add the seeds to a salad or soup.
• A mini oven uses much less power and works just as well as a regular oven in a stove. Use a mini oven if you extracted the seeds from just one pumpkin. Larger ovens are best if you extracted the seeds from multiple pumpkins.
• It is easiest to remove the seeds from the squash before removing the pulp. Immediately after cutting open the pumpkin, insert your hand and carefully remove the seeds from the pulp with a milking motion. This means you only have the seeds and you skip the tedious step of separating the seeds from the pulp after scooping both out of the pumpkin. This method is cleaner, faster and easier.
• If you want to use the seeds to grow new pumpkins and harvest new seeds, keep some aside and spread them out on a sieve, a baking tray, or even a large plate. Let the seeds air dry for several days, in direct sunlight if possible. Store the fully dried seeds in a glass jar with an airtight lid. This way they will remain usable until you are ready to sow them the following spring.
• You can discard the pulp, but it is recommended that you keep some intact. In general, this improves the taste of the seeds. This is not dangerous, as long as you are careful.
• To make your snack healthier, you use less or no salt.
• For a more earthy taste, clean the seeds, but don't wash them. It does not matter if some orange fibers remain on it. Sprinkle the seeds with some coarse sea salt and fry them until they are golden brown.
• This roasting method is also suitable for gourd seeds.
• Roast the pumpkin seeds while you hollow out and cut your pumpkin. This way you will have a tasty snack when you are done.

Warnings

• Note that salted pumpkin seeds are very high in salt. Stick to unsalted seeds if you don't want to eat too much salt.
• Make sure to always keep an eye on the oven while grilling. The temperature in the oven can easily rise to 260º C and higher, which can pose a fire hazard.