Roast Pumpkin Seeds

I know I've been talking pumpkin for a while now, but I can't leave these little gems out!  If you're going to go all out and make your own pumpkin puree, you might as well roast the seeds.  Or, if you're going to carve a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern this year, you might as well roast the seeds as well!  My European oven is so tiny that I couldn't roast the seeds on the same day I made puree and then pumpkin muffins, so I let the seeds dry overnight and then roasted them the next day.  Letting them dry out is a good idea anyway, as pumpkin seeds are very slippery and almost slimy right when coming out of the pumpkin.

I've never had luck roasting seeds before trying this recipe.  The seasonings to this recipe are delish, reminding me of homemade original Chex Mix, but I think there's another reason these worked out for me so well this year.  I spent a lot of time rinsing the seeds, under full-powered tap water, in a colander to get rid of all of the clinging pulp and slime.  It took a while, but I could gradually tell they were getting clean.  I think before, I didn't rinse my seeds well enough, and then I roasted them before they had dried properly. 

I cut down on the salt by a little, because I had just under 2 cups of seeds, and the W. sauce is very salty.  I used salted butter, too.  I didn't cut down on the butter or anything else though!  :) 

Roast Pumpkin Seeds

from Eating, Etc.

2T butter, melted

1/2-3/4 tsp salt- to taste

1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups raw pumpkin seeds

1)  Preheat oven to 275F.

2)  Cover cookie sheet (with sides) with foil.

3)  In medium bowl, stir all ingredients together.

4)  Spread ingredients on prepared cookie sheet.

5)  Bake at 275F for 75-90 minutes, stirring about every 20-30 minutes.

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