Table talk for Oct. 29, 2009
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We had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins with our grandsons in Georgia. They wanted fat pumpkins that would have lots of seeds, they explained, so that their mom could bake the seeds on Halloween.
As children, my brother and I ate pepitas, the edible center of the pumpkin seed after the hull is removed. We ate the pepitas, which are medium-dark green in color, roasted and salted. I don’t remember our mom roasting and hulling the pumpkin seeds; I think she just bought the pepitas, already hulled, roasted and salted in a bag.
When our sons were small,
I started preparing the pumpkin seeds on Halloween afternoon. I’d roast the seeds and store them in plastic bags to serve for after-school snacks. Eating pumpkin seeds on Halloween is as much a tradition to our family as carving the pumpkin. It’s fun.
There are a couple of ways to roast the seeds:
The simplest is to remove seeds from the pumpkin by cutting off the top and scooping out the pumpkin seeds and pulp. Rinse off the pulp, blot dry and place the seeds in a large bowl. If you don’t have time to rinse off the pulp, don’t worry about it. Leave the pulp on and forget about trying to blot the seeds dry. Toss with a little olive oil and kosher or sea salt, and then transfer the seeds (and pulp, if present) to a foil-lined baking pan that has been coating with olive oil cooking spray. Spread out the seeds and roast at 300 degrees until golden in color and crisped (about 15 minutes).
Here is another version of roasted pumpkin seeds that is a bit spicier.
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