Stop! Hold it right there!
Have you carved your pumpkin yet? No? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
No, I cannot in any way help you with the carving of that pumpkin.. my general lack of patience causes me to completely suck at carving. However, I work grown-up gourmet magic with those slimy little seeds in the oven!
Is there anything that truly screams “Autumn!” more than a pan of freshly roasted pumpkin seeds coming out of the oven? This is a go-to tradition for so many pumpkin-carvers, but often we throw those slick babies in the oven half-heartedly, sprinkling them with salt and checking on the pan every so often to make sure they haven’t burned.
This year, I decided to roast a small batch after I carved a pumpkin “puking” guacamole for a kids’ party. I used a small pie pumpkin, so my batch is pretty little, but the technique was spot on and the flavor? Major upgrade.
I used white truffle oil for an earthy, aromatic element to the nutty, fibrous seeds. You only need a few drops–I used about 4–for enough of a heady taste. You could easily serve these at a Halloween party after carving up your jack-o-lanterns, or just hoard them as a savory, healthy snack during the day.
Truffle Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- Fresh pumpkin seeds , separate from membranes, rinsed, and dried
- 2 teaspoons butter
- generous pinch salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 6-8 drops white truffle oil
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 300º F. Melt butter and toss with pumpkin seeds in a bowl. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with foil (for easy cleanup).
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Roast pumpkin seeds about 40 minutes, moving/flipping with a spatula once. Remove from the oven and use foil to lift the seeds and place into a bowl. Add a few drops of truffle oil (4-8 will do the trick) and toss. Start with a lesser amount and gradually add more to get the right taste. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
If not serving right away, wait to toss with truffle oil until serving.
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You’re a genius! I’ve had a teeny tiny bottle of truffle oil in my cupboard for too long. It must be used on pepitas! 🙂
It’s so unexpected but so, so right! And a teeny tiny bottle is all you need when it comes to truffle oil! 🙂
Oooh you had me at truffle! I love truffled ANYTHING and the crunchiness of pumpkin seeds gets me every time – so addictive. Like you, I’m too impatient for pumpkin carving, but I’m ALL about the seeds!
Yes! My mind wanders to embarrassing places when it’s truffle-brainstorming. “Truffled tuna sala–wait, no, Cheryl, that makes no sense, thank God you didn’t say that out loud..” etc. 😀
Yummy! I’ve never tried truffle oil before, but I love a good back of salty pumpkin seeds. I may just have to roast myself up a batch next pumpkin season. I’m leaving for Kazkahstan this week so sadly I will have to put pumpkin things on the back burner for a while. But now I have something to look forward to!
Kazakhstan?! How cool! What for?
My husband is there for work, and I’ll be joining him for a few months. Hopefully I’ll learn some cool new cookery things to share some day, but we’ll see!