Hayley and I had a fun time tackling the 8lb pumpkin we brought back from Schramms Farm, and yes, the upcoming recipes using pumpkin are ALL from that one pumpkin! We purchased the pumpkin with the intention of using it for fall recipes (mostly desserts), but throwing some quick seeds in the oven was a great perk to the process.

We believe in using all possible parts of produce, and those that do not get used for food are composted for next year’s vegetable garden. A byproduct of cleaning a pumpkin to prepare for recipes will be guts and seeds. Although we cant help you with the guts, we do have a tasty recipe for roasted seeds that is both easy and tasty.

The best way, we found, to gut a pumpkin is to first cut a circle around the stem, pull off the crown of the pumpkin, and use your hands and/or large metal spoons to get the guts out. The seeds and guts will come out together, which is a big mess. Make sure you do this in an area where pumpkin guts wont ruin anything. Our 8lb pumpkin yielded about 3 cups of roasted seeds.

Ingredients:

• 1 pumpkin, approximately 5 lbs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• kosher salt
• crushed pepper (optional)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 250.
2. Remove guts and seeds from pumpkin, and place in a strainer in a sink.
3. Separate guts and pumpkin seeds, discarding the guts.
4. Rinse seeds thoroughly, then dump out on a paper towel and pat dry.
5. Spread pumpkin seeds out on a metal cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
6. Evenly coat with olive oil, then sprinkle kosher salt on seeds.
7. Roast the pumpkin seeds at 250 for approximately 30-40 minutes, until desired crispness is achieved.

This fall treat goes hand in hand with the other pumpkin treats we’ve already posted. They are very easy to make, and the slow roasting process allows you to continue your pumpkin prep for further recipes without having to babysit the seeds in the oven. This is one to enjoy before fresh pumpkins disappear from grocery stores!