Recently we took Katie and 7 other girls out to Heiser Farms to go through their corn maze, pick & carve pumpkins, and eat pizza. As the girls de-gutted their pumpkins, I sorted through the gunk to get at all the seeds. I was at my friend Nikki's home when I tasted her roasted pumpkin seeds. They were much better than any I'd ever made. She told me the trick was to soak them in salt water overnight. So I tried it!
Yesterday when my friend, Tara, was visiting, she tried some of the seeds I'd made. She said something along the lines of, "Ooooooooo....these are really good. Much better than mine." (OK...I really don't remember her exact words, but it was pretty much the same thing I'd said to Nikki...) So I told her the trick!
And now...so everyone knows the trick.....soak your seeds in a saltwater bath. I think it plumps them up so they're not so flat and chewy.
Next I spread them out in a jelly roll pan, & poured a little extra virgin olive oil over them. I made two batches, seasoning them differently. For the first, I simply sprinkled garlic salt over them. These are a little too salty for my taste. The others were with some Dry BBQ Rub from my favorite Southern barbecue place, Sticky Fingers (just make sure you go to stickyfingersONLINE.com, as opposed to just plain ol' stickyfingers....you've been warned....).
The final step was simply roasting them in the oven over a low heat for 4-5 hours. I did mine at 200 degrees, and stirred the seeds occasionally.
They were nice and crisp!
I still can't get used to eating the hull. I prefer them de-hulled. But what a lot of work that is! Still, I was thinking of roasting some, so perhaps I'll try the soaking in salt water method.
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of them de-hulled (like a sunflower seed, I suppose...). Try soaking them in the salt water. They will be crispier and not so chewy.
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