Pepitas (Roasted Pumpkin Seeds)

By Foodiewife

Don’t throw away those pumpkin seeds! Here’s how to make toasted pumpkin seeds that are addicting.

For a tutorial on making your own pumpkin puree and roasting the seeds, please visit my food blog at:
http://foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/pumpkin-puree-pepitas.html

Ingredients

• Pumpkin seeds
• table salt (kosher is too large)
• olive oil
• Seasoned salt
• Optional: cumin, chili powder, seasoned salt

Preparation

Step 1

Toss the seeds into a colander and rinse them under cold water, pulling away the chunks of pulp as you go.

Spread the rinsed seeds out on a baking sheet.

It's important to allow the seeds to dry several hours or overnight. Beware: they’re quite sticky/slimy, so don’t place them on paper towels! Just leave ‘em on the baking sheet and they’ll be fine.

When they’re nice and dry, go ahead and preheat the oven to 250°F.

Use your fingers to toss the seeds around to coat.

Then salt the seeds generously. I use regular table salt for this one. Kosher salt’s flakes are too big. And you can really go nuts with the seasoning: cayenne pepper, seasoned salt, even curry powder. But I like to keep it simple.

Now just pop ‘em in the oven for an hour or so, until the seeds are light golden brown.

And that’s it! Let them cool for a few minutes…then let the snacking begin!

Pepitas need to be stored in an airtight container if they last beyond the first day. But in our kitchen, that hardly ever happens.