Pumpkin seeds & puree

23 October 202023 October 20200 26

Autumnal flavor

INSTRUCTIONS

1.	For the puree
2.	Cut the pumpkin in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center.
3.	Place all the seeds into a bowl (for later use).
4.	Place pumpkin halves on a baking sheet (face down) and roast in 180o Celsius for 35-40 minutes, or until pumpkin is fork-tender.
5.	Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces.
6.	If you have a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time. A blender will work, too. Add in some olive oil. Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. Dump the puree into a bowl, and continue the procedure until all the pumpkin is done.
7.	You can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you’d like or store it in the freezer for later uses.
8.	To store in the freezer, spoon about 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining. Store them in the freezer until you need them.
9.	For the roasted seeds
10.	Scoop the seeds from the pumpkin and remove the stringy parts. Rinsing in a colander helps remove any remaining goop.
11.	Preheat oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
12.	Dry the seeds thoroughly, using a clean towel. This helps them crisp up in the oven. Toss the towel-dried pumpkin seeds with butter, salt and paprika, making sure each seed is well-coated.
13.	Spread the seeds on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 30-35 minutes at 180o Celsius, stirring every 10 minutes during baking time. Pumpkin seeds are ready when they are golden brown.
14.	The seeds might be chewy right when they come out of the oven, but will crisp up nicely after cooling. Make sure to let them cool completely before transferring to a sealed container.