It is Halloween in Australia, and peak of the pumpkin season. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a hugely healthy and totally addictive snack. And they are so easy.
Halloween, or Samhain, marks the midpoint between autumn equinox and the mid-winter solstice. It is the last of the three traditional harvest seasons, marking the real last this-is-it end of summer – and it feels like it. The weather has turned here. As far as day length goes, it is now officially winter – the season of the shortest days, and though, because the earth has lots of thermal mass the temperature drop lags by a few weeks, it really feels like winter today.
We celebrate with a progressive dinner, and this year due to my current obsession with sourdough, I’m starting off the feast with breads and dips. On my kitchen bench I currently have rising a loaf of rye and caraway, one of olive and thyme, one of semi-sundried tomato, garlic and basil pesto, and one of pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Here’s hoping they turn out!
But meanwhile, I’ve roasted the pumpkin seeds to snack on.
The Recipe:
Scoop the seeds out of the pumkin and into a bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water and roughly wash the seeds. Much of the pulp will float and can be scooped out.
Tip into a colander and wash a bit more. Much of the rest of the pulp will wash through. Then it is very easy to pick out the last bits of pulp. Don’t worry if you miss some – it adds to the flavour.
Let the seeds dry in the colander for a little while. They don’t have to be quite dry, just not sopping. Tip them into a bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of soy sauce and a half a teaspoon of honey.
Stir this to coat the seeds, then tip them onto a baking tray and spread them so they are a single layer.
Bake in a moderate oven for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are well browned. (I like them a bit darker than golden). Watch them at the end as they turn quickly.
Try to at least let them cool before eating them all!
These sound great. My third son and I eat just plain roasted pumpkin seeds with salt, but these seem dangerously addictive!
Linda, I know this is a daft question, but do you eat the whole seed, or shell it and just eat the inside? I’ve never tried pumpkin seeds, but I grew up on little black seeds that we used to crack open and eat the centres of – I never knew what they came from, now that I think about it! 🙂
The pepitas that you buy (green and a bit bigger than a sunflower seed) are pumpkin seeds – blokes in particular should eat lots as they are a great source of zinc. If you have big fat seeds from a Queensland Blue you can shell them, but for the smaller seeds from most pumpkins, fresh and crisp like this, I eat the whole seed shell and all.
Melanie and I do them roasted plain with salt as well. Initially we were not that taken by them. But we each kept catching each other going back for more. I found every time I walked past the pantry I couldn’t help but sneak a hand full. They remind me of pork crackling (I haven’t eaten that since I was a kid, so don’t quote me on it).
I am impressed and inspired that you have taken ownership of the Halloween celebration for the southern hemisphere. Did you do the pumpkin calving and wear a pear of devil horns?
Occasional pumpkin carving – they do make great decorations with a candle inside creating a warm orange light, and this time of year we can afford to waste some. And occasionally a theme that lends itself to fancy dress. This year we celebrated the origins of different foods, and my group based the first course around bread and dressed up as Sumarians (sort of!) Last year’s theme was Shakespeare which allowed for lots of costumery, But the main event is a progressive dinner, walking house to house for each course. Great fun, and you can really feast with a walk between each course. All these traditional festivals were invented as markers for the seasons, and they work so much better like that. Halloween at pumpkin season and easter at egg season.
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