Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The secret to perfect roasted pumpkin seeds? Boil them in salted water first. These seeds came from pumpkin carving. Boil for about 7 minutes, then drain and toss with butter. Add more seasoning if you want spicy versions. Then spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and roast at 350 degrees until browned.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds - Pepitas!

The wonderful fringe benefit of carving pumpkins: pumpkin seeds! Rinse and de-string them and then boil in salted water for about 10 minutes. Toss in a little melted butter and roast in a single layer on a baking sheet until browned. I love these little pepitas.

Roasted "Punkin" Seeds

The big treat in carving pumpkins, or cutting up pumpkins to bake and make into the pies: the roasted seeds. You can eat these seeds whole, or crack them like sunflower seeds and eat the meat. When you get the seeds nice and crispy in the oven, the shells taste just as good as the meat.
Make your pumpkin carvers save the seeds.

This is the slimy part, getting the seeds off the strings and goo. Dig in and squeeze and the seeds pop off.

It's O-K to leave a little pumpkin on the seeds, it adds flavor.

Next, boil the seeds in water and sea salt. I used about a quarter cup of salt for this batch. I boiled them for about 15 minutes. Then - you drain them.

Here they are almost ready to roast. At this point, I toss the seeds in about 2 tablespoons of butter. You can use any oil, and you need an oil to get them extra crispy. Heat the oven to 250 degrees.

Spread the oil-tossed seeds on a baking sheet. Stir them around after about 10 minutes. Roast them to the brownness you want. We like ours extra toasty!