Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Halloween is soon upon us, and one of my favorite things about Halloween is roasted pumpkin seeds. Here's how I prepare them.

First of all you have to get the seeds out of the pumpkin and separated from the "guts." I put mine in a glass bowl of some sort, and I like glass because your are going to soak them in salt water.

Fill a glass vessel of some sort with water, I used a large measuring cup for mine, enough to cover the seeds plus a bit more.

I had seeds from two pumpkins in this bowl. Then you need to add kosher salt to the water and the seeds. How much? Well, that depends on how much water you have in your bowl. The short answer is enough until the water is very salty. Sorry, that's a vague answer. It's like saying, "cook it until it's done."

What I do is add a couple of tablespoons at a time, mix with my hand so I can feel if the salt is dissolving, and keep adding until the salt isn't dissolving as fast anymore. I had about six cups of water and I probably put between 4-6 tablespoons of salt in here. You want it briny!!

I let the seeds soak in the fridge overnight. Take them out in the morning and drain in a colander, but don't rinse them. Pick out any pieces of pumpkin that might have snuck in there, too.

Position the rack in the oven to the middle. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan (I used a half sheet pan) by wrapping it in heavy duty aluminum foil and spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the seeds onto the pan and spread them out (just shake the pan and they will spread nice and even).

Place the pan in the oven. I stir them every about every 15 minutes to get them to roast more evenly. As they roast, you can see the color will lighten up. After about 1/2 hour, sprinkle them with more kosher salt if you like, but don't put too much more salt on them. If you want to add seasonings, now is the time to add them. At this point, the seeds are wet enough to hold the seasonings but not too wet to dissolve them. I'm a purist--just kosher salt for me.

Keep stirring every 15 minutes until they dry out enough and start to turn golden. At this point the whole house should smell like roasted pumpkin! The whole process should take between an hour and an hour and fifteen minutes.

I like my pumpkin seeds pale golden brown with just a hint of brown on the edges. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and let them cool in the oven for a while. Store in an airtight container.

There you have it! A yummy, toasty, and a bit addictive, fall treat. Enjoy!!