roasted savory pumpkin seeds

"Men are like pumpkins.
It seems like all the good ones are either taken or they've had all the seeds scraped out of their heads with a spoon."

I found many delicious ways to season pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds have a subtle sweetness and nutty taste, and one of the most nutritious of all the seeds. They are great added to salads or sautéed veggies. I mix them into ground turkey before I make burgers or meatloaf.
Mostly I like them for a quick mid day savory snack.

Coulter Farm Pumpkin Patch

But during the Halloween season, I just love to toast them with flavorful olive oil or butter, sea salt and smoked paprika for a healthy, tasty autumn treat.

I made a “slightly less healthy” version with some Summer Butter that I brought from Nordic Creamery. I bought several tubs of one of their last batches of this organic cows milk butter that is made only in the summer months when the cows are eating grass. The taste is sweet, fresh and quite different from any butter from the Mega-Mart. More about Summer Butter in my post tomorrow.


ingredients

fresh pumpkin seeds

sea salt

celery salt

olive oil or melted butter

smoked paprika (you can also use regular paprika)

directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pumpkin seeds, water, and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil for 15 minutes. I find that his step makes the shell expand around the seed and then it becomes very crispy when roasted.


Drain seeds, blot, and let air-dry for 20 minutes.

Toss the dry seeds with olive oil, smoked paprika and salts.

Spread the seeds in a single layer on baking pan.

Roast until lightly golden and crisp for about 30 minutes.
Turn and flip seed every 10 minutes for an even roast.
(Your house will smell amazing…)

Drain seeds of excess oil on a paper towel.

Store your finished pumpkin seeds in an airtight container. I put the ones made with butter in the refrigerator.

(that is if there are any left to store…)
These freshly roasted seeds go really, really FAST…!