When you're carving pumpkins or making pumpkin puree, don't throw out those pumpkins. Instead, make roasted pumpkin seeds. This version, flavored with Chinese five-spice powder, which has a sweet-spicy flavor, was inspired by the toasted pumpkin seed recipes from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks blog. They make a delicious and healthy snack, or can be a tasty, crunchy garnish for salads, soup (such as pumpkin sage soup), or side dishes. If you don't have Chinese five spice powder, you can use other spices in any combination, like cinnamon, cumin, curry powder or chipotle powder.
Cooking Equipment Needed: Colander, whisk, sheet pan
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Drying time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
Yield: 1 to 2 cups
Ingredients:
- Pumpkin seeds from 1 pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 1 egg white
- Salt
Preparation:
- Place pumpkin seeds in a colander. Under cool running water, rinse pulp from pumpkin seeds. Shake to drain excess water, then spread pumpkin seeds on a sheet pan and allow to dry for several hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. In a bowl, whisk together sugar and Chinese five spice powder. Add the egg white and a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Add the pumpkin seeds and stir with a spoon to coat the seeds completely with the egg white mixture.
- Spread the seeds on a sheet pan (you can use the same one used to dry the seeds) in a single layer. Bake at 375˚F for 10 to 20 minutes, checking after 10 minutes. Seeds are done when they are crunchy.
