
It only occurred to me today that you can use virtually every part of a Pumpkin. The only bits I threw out were the skin ( and if I’d been roasting it I wouldn’t even have done that) and the fibrous bits from the middle that hold the seeds. And that brings us neatly to the seeds – I’ve seen Pumpkin seeds for sale in the supermarket, so I headed off to the internet to see what it had to say.. Naturally there were the usual loser options, but also some that sounded lovely – Caramelised Pumpkin seeds anyone? In the end I opted for the simple oil, salt and pepper option (I was doing 2 other things at the same time, so don’t judge me 😉 )
It literally couldn’t be easier – the most troublesome bit is separating the seeds from the fibrous bits, and I sat down at the kitchen table with the radio on to do that bit.
Here we go..
EQUIPMENT:
- A large baking tray
- A sheet of baking parchment to fit the tray
- A couple of sheets of kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
- A medium sized bowl
- Raw pumpkin seeds from a fresh pumpkin
- Tablespoonful of oil – I used lovely local Rapeseed Oil.
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD:
- Separate the seeds from the fibrous bits of the pumpkin. I used the tip of a knife to slide the seeds to one side of the board. It worked fairly well for me.
- Wash and dry the seeds
- Heat the oven to 170 fan
- Put the baking parchment onto the baking tray
- Put the oil, salt and pepper into the bowl.
- Add the seeds and mix well
- Tip the seeds out onto the tray, and spread them out as much as you can.
- Put them into the oven for about 30 minutes, or until they’re a nice golden colour and have crisped up.
- Allow them to cool completely before storing in an air-tight jar.
NOTES:
- One of the two things I was doing at the same time as making these little gems was making my Thai-style Pumpkin Soup https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/thai-style-pumpkin-soup/. These golden crunchy seeds would be a gorgeous topping for a bowl of this creamy soup.
- For other flavours, check out a site called allrecipes.co.uk and put pumpkin seeds into the search box.