Pumpkins & Seeds

The thing about pumpkins is that they are really, really tricky to carve. They look like they should be so easy. I mean, it's just a big round vegetable. But they're not - unless you have a set of tools or something and a template - but when you're armed with blunt kitchen knives, a biro and a not-so-steady hand, it's not much fun. I wanted to go with something like this, all beautiful patterns and pretty styling, but the kids insisted on a face. And that's the other thing about carving pumpkins - it's hard to do with little ones, since the very nature of carving involves sharp knives. It's not ideal, really, when you think about it. But we persevered and the kids are very happy with the "punkin", as Angus calls is. To make my self feel better about my failure to produce a pinterest worthy pumpkin, I decided to roast the seeds.

I looked at a few different recipes online and mixed them all together, as is my usual habit. A bit of this one, a bit of that one. After cleaning the seeds as best I could, I boiled them for about ten minutes in salted water. I think this stops the inside part of the seed burning when you roast them. I laid them out overnight on kitchen towels to dry. Then I coated them all with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roasted them for about fifteen minutes at around 200°C.

A moment longer, and they would have burned, I think. Next time I'll try ten minutes or a cooler oven.

When they'd cooled a little I tipped them onto more kitchen towels to drain off some of the excess oil, then poured them into a waiting jam jar.

They are deliciously moreish. They taste like a cross between salted popcorn and peanuts. They are crunchy but have just a little give in the centre so they're not totally brittle. I didn't think salt and pepper would be enough seasoning - I was thinking garlic salt, celery salt or paprika - but it's just perfect. I kept dipping in and out of the jar all through the day.