There are few different ways of cooking pumpkin to create puree: baking, boiling, and microwaving. Since my pumpkins were bigger than ideal for baking (stringier and gunkier – yes, that’s a new word ), I opted for the boiling method this time.
After boiling to tenderness, I let the chunks cool. Then I pureed them in a food processor – you can also use a food mill or just mash it with a potato masher.
While boiling/cooling/pureeing the pumpkin, I worked on a few different flavors of roasted seeds – my favorite part of all the pumpkin. The original plan was to compare 3 different ideas for the seeds…it turned into 6. I just couldn’t stop.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #1 (salty) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 2 T. butter, melted 1 t. Worcestershire 1/8 t. garlic salt 1/8 t. onion powder Mix all ingredients together, making sure the seeds are thoroughly coated. Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until browned and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #2 (sweet) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 1 T. oil ½ t. brown sugar ¼ - ½ t. cinnamon 1/8 t. salt Mix all ingredients together, making sure the seeds are thoroughly coated. Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until browned and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an air-tight container. …goofed up the oven settings and this batch overcooked. Still pretty good, though!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #3 (salty & sweet) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 1 ½ T. butter 1 ½ T. brown sugar 1 t. basil 1/8 t. cinnamon ¾ t. salt 1/8 t. cayenne pepper 1/8 t. ground black pepper In a saucepan at medium-low heat, melt butter. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir for a few minutes until sugar is mostly melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the seeds. Place seeds in a single layer on a well-greased cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until brown and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #4 (simply salty) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 1 T. butter, melted 1 t. salt Mix all ingredients together, making sure the seeds are thoroughly coated. Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until browned and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #5 (spicy) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 1 ½ T. butter, melted 1 t. chili powder ½ t. cayenne pepper 1 t. salt Mix all ingredients together, making sure the seeds are thoroughly coated. Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until browned and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe #6 (sweet & spicy) 1 c. pumpkin seeds, rinsed thoroughly 1 T. oil ¼ t. Garlic salt 1/8 t. Chili powder 1/8 t. Cayenne pepper 1 ½ t. Brown sugar ¼ t. cinnamon Mix all ingredients together, making sure the seeds are thoroughly coated. Place seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 280 for 45-50 minutes (or until browned and toasty looking), stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
All the above proportions are pretty small because I wanted to try so many kinds. Feel free to double each recipe.I'll be asking various people this weekend their favorite recipe from these choices. Stay tuned for results and more pumpkin excitement!