It’s that time of year again. I just cut up the first of my pumpkins and so I have pumpkin seeds aplenty. But how best to use them?
Once cleaned, if I leave them to dry out for a couple of weeks the raw seeds develop a delicious nutty flavour - but the shells are pretty thick, so you have to shell the seeds as you nibble (which makes them a fairly healthy snack - it’s a slow nibble). But is there a way of softening the shells, or otherwise “dealing” with them (whatever that might entail) so that the seeds can be eaten without having to shell them? That includes other culinary uses, obviously. Bread making springs to mind (if the shell problem can be solved).
If you roast them they’ll keep for quite a while in the shell. Pumpkin seeds are great for Mole Verde. As @jnglmassiv jnglnassiv posted above, once roasted, the shells are brittle and easy to remove.
You might want to wash them if there’s strings sticking on but you can put them right into the oven still wet. Then, yes, a little oil, salt & pepper and anything else you like.
You don’t really need oil, wouldn’t hurt I suppose. I wash them, spread them on parchment paper, sprinkle with salt, and roast at 325F until they start to brown. I never felt the need to get fancy with them, they’re just something useful in the pumpkin guts.
Best solution is to grow a hulless variety of pumpkin
We’ve started growing a few hulless plants just for the seeds. We still roast our hulled versions but typically just eat the whole thing (they aren’t thick hulls like some squash seeds).
Whew, glad to know that. I hadn’t realized until this thread that not everyone eats the shells. Then I started thinking, “am I the only one?”
Kind of like shrimp, I guess. After my college graduation ceremony, my parents took me out to eat and I ordered fried shrimp, which I proceeded to eat, tails and all. My mother looked at my in horror. “WHAT are you DOING?”
Confused, I said, “I’m … eating my shrimp?”
Turns out she had never seen me eat shrimp tails before and thought it was really weird. I had thought it was something everyone did. (With the benefit of the internet I have learned that eating the tails might be slightly odd, but I’m far from the only one.)
I never clean off the seeds except for removing large pieces of pumpkin. When roasted, the bits add flavor and caramelization. I’ve never soaked them, either. Just roast them in the oven, watching and stirring so that they don’t burn. I don’t add oil, just salt and sometimes worcestershire sauce.
I roast them, put them in my mouth seeds and all, chew on them, and spit out the bits of shell.
This technique may be best used by those who aren’t eating in the company of others.
ETA: I second the recommendation for a hull-less seed variety, if you’re growing them or can find them (try a farmers’ market). Some but not all such varieties also make good pie.
I cook the seeds fresh out of the pumpkin, as part of cleaning up from carving jack-o-lanterns.
I remove any chunky bits of pumpkin innard, but I don’t wash the seeds, as the pumpkin goo adds flavor.
I start by throwing them in a cast iron frying pan with a dollop of goose fat or butter. I liberally sprinkle the pan with salt and pepper, too. I saute for a while, stirring constantly, until the fat and seasoning is well-distributed. You can finish then in the frying pan, but it takes a while and I’m too lazy to d that, so I move the frying pan to the oven, and roast until they are done, stirring occassionally.
(If I were just roasting, I would spread them thinly on a baking sheet. They cook faster and more evenly this way, and you may not have to stir them at all. But again, I’m lazy, and I don’t want to clean two pans. So I leave them in the frying pan and stir a few times. The shells become dry and crispy from this, and I eat them. But if I eat a lot of them, my jaw does get a little tired.
Thanks to everyone (not just the guys I quoted) for guidance. First experiment this evening.
I roasted them in the oven with a little oil and salt. I did not realise:
That the shells, once roasted thus, were going to be perfectly edible. I think, when I have roasted them before, that was after drying - mistake number one. The shells are tough if you do that.
That Susan had identified a significant problem. Mistake number two - they popped. Fortunately I got to them before too many were on the floor of the oven. Note to self: use foil.
But it worked, the seeds were delicious and the shells perfectly edible. A big thank you to all who responded.
BTW: I had never heard of mole verde - still processing that one.
The pumpkin seeds you buy in the store are from breeds with very thin skins. I’ve never had any luck roasting them, and am not fond enough of them to bother, so I just toss them out in the yard and the birds and squirrels eat them. I’ve also done that with melon seeds.
Whenever we get a pumpkin for Halloween, I always save the seeds. Rinse if you want, but the strings do add flavor. Poach them first in heavily salted water, until the shells change color. Drain and let air dry a bit. If you want any extra seasoning, toss that but remember that they’re already salted after poaching. Then roast in the oven until dry and crisp. Makes the shells nicely brittle and crunchy without being thick and chewy.
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