Pumpkin Seeds – Cleaning, roasting, uses

[bentherebfor]

Pumpkin carving time is almost here....and every year I get myself riled up about what exciting culinary adventures I'm going to have with my seeds this time, yet somehow, I manage to continue to put off doing anything with the seedsm and end up tossing them in the trash.

If any of you guys carve pumpkins, what do you do with your seeds?

Roast them?

Anyway, I'm up for anything...........

[ladyyoung98]

roast them in the oven and salt them....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[fifi]

A few more details please. I have always heard of this but have never tried it. When I look at the typical pumpkin patch pumpkin seeds they look like the shell is way to hard to be palatable. In fact I admit that I worry that they might not be too good for the ummmm... digestive tract. I can't see how the pumpkin seeds that you buy (pepitas) could come from what I see.

What am I missing?

Also, how well do you have to clean that stringy stuff off of the seeds? Is there an easy way to do it?

[iriee]

roast them slowly around 325 degrees then cover with light oil,canola or grapeseed) and let sit for a few days, strain and enjoy on salads,,,drizzled over fish,chicken,,, mmmmmmmmmm

[WHT]

roasted with curry and salt.

[bentherebfor]

I agree with Fifi.....will the shell soften enough to be edible?

As far as cleaning, I think it just takes some time.....at least I'm certainly not aware of any tricks.

Fifi, in response to your question about seeds that you purchase in comparison to the ones from pumpkins, I believe that the kind you most often see in a grocery are Green Pumpkin Seeds, while the ones you take from a carving pumpkin is different. I could be wrong.......my only source of knowledge is that in this months issue of Everyday Food...they had a section on recipes to use with Green Pumpkin Seeds. It would appear to me that these seeds are useful in many different types of recipes (ie muffins and other baked goods) while carving pumpkin seeds are really only good for roasting. Once again though, I could be completely and utterly wrong about everything I just said.

Edited October 10, 2004 by bentherebfor (log)

[fifi]

I agree with Fifi.....will the shell soften enough to be edible?

As far as cleaning, I think it just takes some time.....at least I'm certainly not aware of any tricks.

Fifi, in response to your question about seeds that you purchase in comparison to the ones from pumpkins, I believe that the kind you most often see in a grocery are Green Pumpkin Seeds, while the ones you take from a carving pumpkin is different.

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Yeah... The green ones are even a different shape. That is what has been making me think they are from an entirely different pumpkin. Looking at all of the interesting types of pumpkins available, I am almost curious enough to buy some and compare seeds. Then I will be covered up with pumpkins, they will rot and sprout and grow in the detritus. They will find my remains one day, beneath the pumpkin vines in the dining area.

[Kevin72]

I'm curious about this too. In fact I did try to roast the seeds one year, as directed (in fact I wound up going over an hour) and they never came out soft. There's the inner seed which seems softer but the hull (outer seed?) never gets palatable. Are they supposed to be peeled or something? Everything I've read makes it sound absurdly simple.

[Cusina]

Roasted pumpkin seeds are supposed to be potato chip crunchy, not soft. I love them.

Discard membrane stringy stuff. Rinse in a colander till they are not quite so slimy, dry on paper towels.

Oven at 325, drizzle with melted butter, salt liberally. Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring the seeds now and then. Watch to make sure they don't start to burn. A silpat is good for this. (Adapted from James Villas' recipe in Stalking the Green Fairy) These are great toppers for soups, in salads instead of croutons or stand alone as cocktail munchies.

[bentherebfor]

Yes but does anyone understand the differences between green and normal seeds?

[fifi]

Yes but does anyone understand the differences between green and normal seeds?

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This is frustrating me as well. The seeds I have gotten out of the typical halloween pumpkin are positively woody. I still don't get it. I would prefer to gnaw on a 2x4 unless some miraculous transformation occurs in the oven.

[bentherebfor]

My friend insists that a long slow roast will do the trick....but thats like saying sticking a rock in the oven would make it chewable

[fifi]

My friend insists that a long slow roast will do the trick....but thats like saying sticking a rock in the oven would make it chewable

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I suppose I will have to get a pumpkin and try it. I remain dubious.

[Smithy]

My method is pretty much like Cusina's. Wash in a colander to get rid of the slime. (You'll save a bit of water if you first pitch them in a mixing bowl and swoosh them around in water, then do a rinse/flush cycle in the colander.) Drain until at least partly dry. Toss with olive oil, salt, and other seasonings at your discretion. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 325F, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown. Remove. Enjoy. They are crunchy, they are delectable, they are digestible, they always make me wish I'd bought more pumpkins. I dunno about "chewy", as such; aren't caramels chewy? But boy, are they good. Much better than the pumpkin, and almost as fun as the kids enjoying the Jack-O'-Lantern.

Edited to add: in the night I remembered that I probably roast hotter than 325F... but now I've forgotten: 375?. Meanwhile, gus_tatory posted an even better sounding method, and that's the way I'm going next time around!

Edited October 11, 2004 by Smithy (log)

[Kevin72]

Roasted pumpkin seeds are supposed to be potato chip crunchy, not soft.  I love them.

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Sorry, I guess "soft" wasn't the word I was looking for. They came out I-don't-think-I'm-supposed-to-be-eating-this hard. Could never chew through them.

[gus_tatory]

ok, for once i know the answer.

rinse in 2-3 changes of hot water, drain.

start in no-stick pan, medium heat, with half butter, half canola oil, salt, just until golden/bubbly/sizzly.

pour onto baking sheet lined with foil, sprinkle with other spices.

when they roast (at 350) they should "puff up" until the outer layer of the skin is bubbly and transparent. you can even do this with normal squash seeds--it's awesome.

not only are these great nosh, they make elegant, tasty salad garnishes, cream of autumn veg soup garnishes, etc., and people will think you went to soo much trouble.

bonus: they protect against prostate cancer.

what's not to like?

[fifi]

Ah Ha! gus_tatory has described a method that makes some sense.

Off to get a pumpkin.

[bentherebfor]

So they become chewable when the puff?

[andiesenji]

find a friend with an appreciative pet rat....

they (the rat, not the friend, thought you never know your luck) will abandon all reason and reticence and will jump through hoops for them.

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As will my resident squirrel who lives in one of the shade trees. They are not common in this area and I have never seen another. I don't know if this one is an old batchelor or a single lady but whatever, is very fat and very sassy. Sits just out of reach of my dogs and whistles at them. Makes a high pitched sound I have never heard from one of these creatures. Drives the dogs nuts.

I have a large tin tray nailed to the top of a post within jumping distance of the tree and I put such things on the tray and watch from the deck while he or she comes down and neatly picks the seeds out of the fibers, fills both cheeks then leaps back onto the tree branch to tuck them away before coming back for more.

I put all my "past the sell-by date" nuts that have begun to turn a bit rancid as the creature is not finicky about taking them. If the dogs become too boisterous it will throw things at them. Occasionally one will come in wearing some of the fibers from the melon or squash seeds.

Before I had the gardener erect the post, I just would fling the stuff up into the lower tree branches. It was always cleaned up quickly, either by the squirrel or the ravens that hang around.

However, with pumpkin seeds, if I am making pumpkin puree, I always cook the pumpkin with the seeds, then run the resulting pulp through a food mill. I have found that the resulting flavor is much better than cooking just the flesh of the pumpkin.

The action of the food mill usually separates the seeds from the fibers and makes it easier to clean them then rinse them with hot water in a colander, put in a skillet with butter and salt and pepper, perhaps a bit of cayenne. Cooking till beginning to brown.

I then put them on a sheet pan and roast in a 300 degree oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. They should puff up a bit and become crisp enough that they will break up when squeezed between thumb and fingers.

[mikeycook]

I have had a pumpkin seed sauce called pipian that I love in a number of mexican restaurants. I have seen a few recipes for it through Google.

Edited October 12, 2004 by mikeycook (log)

[Margo]

Maybe it's a matter of taste... I like chewing through the pumpkin seed hulls, even though they're kind of tough. The key is to roast them until they're nice and brown. Sometimes I just like a chewy snack.

I read somewhere, maybe, that the green pumpkin seeds (pepitas?) are hulled.

[albiston]

Maybe it's a matter of taste... I like chewing through the pumpkin seed hulls, even though they're kind of tough. The key is to roast them until they're nice and brown. Sometimes I just like a chewy snack.

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Hmmm... OK, I like to chew the seeds with hull and all at times, I'll even munch raw spaghetti every now and then , but I usually nib the hull off. It's actually quite easy to do if the seeds are roasted properly: just bite the tip of the seed while holding and squeezing it by the sides. The hull should split open like a charm. Actually easier to show than to explain.

Salted pumpkin seeds are one of the classical snacks sold at Italian fares. I must have eaten, and peeled, thousands as a child... the best way to get a kid thirsty, I can tell you!

[saskanuck]

The green pumpkin seeds (pepitas) are just hulled regular pumpkin seeds. If you roast the seeds, then split them open as albiston said above, you will see that the seed inside is green.

I roast some of the seeds every year, but we eat them hulled. They are good, although it takes a lot of work to get much to eat.

[Rachel Perlow]

Wait, you guys eat the hulls? I think of home roasted pumpkin seeds like sunflower seeds, you pick or bite the nut out the hull. I wouldn't think of using them as a salad or soup topper w/out shelling them first.

[Pumpkin Lover]

I have a tiny cookbook called "Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!" which lists different types of carving and eating pumpkins (I'll get to seed-related stuff in a second).

Carving pumpkins include:

Big Toms

Jack-o-Lanterns

Big Max

Funny Face

Spirit

Big Moon

Eating pumpkins include:

Sweet Sugar

Winter Luxury

Connecticut Field

Trick or Treat

Big Cheese

Half Moon

Midget eating pumpkins include:

Cinderella

Cheyenne

and

Tricky Jack

With Tricky Jack pumpkins, the author says that "Seeds have no hulls so can be dried in oven and eaten whole."

So this makes me think that all eating pumpkins except Tricky Jacks have hulls on the seeds that need to be bitten into and thrown away before eating the core?