DONT WASTE YOUR PUMPKINS: ROASTED CINNAMON PUMPKIN SEEDS

Now that Halloween has been and gone there is probably a whole hoard of carved pumpkins dotted around the houses of the nation or you may see supermarkets furiously trying to sell off the remainder of their stock now that everyone starts to neglect this incredibly seasonal piece of produce. Don't worry, I have a couple of recipes to stop all these pumpkins from going to waste starting with this super simple guide to turning the seeds into a yummy little snack for nibbling on in front of the TV or they look really pretty as a topping for a sponge or cheese cake! All you need is some oil and cinnamon and a spare hour just to whack them in the oven. Simples.

Firstly though let me talk about preparing your pumpkin. Be really careful and make sure you have a super sharp knife (defiantly a job for grown ups this) and start by cutting across the top off the pumpkin to remove the stalk and make a flat top. You can then turn the pumpkin upside down and lie it on the flat top to stabilise the pumpkin whilst you slice it half right down the middle in two halves. Cut the two halves in half again so you now have four large chunks of pumpkin.

You will now see all the seeds tangled up in the stringy insides of the pumpkin. Use scissors to cut all the seeds and stringy bits away from the pumpkin flesh and then save the chunks of flesh to use for another recipe later. Remove as much of the stringy bits from the seeds as possible and discard these so your left with a pile of delicious pumpkin seeds.

Give the seeds a quick wash under the tap in a sieve and then arrange them on a piece of baking paper and leave them until they are completely dry. If you roast them whilst they are wet they will go a bit soggy and nasty and you want them to be as crispy and crunchy as possible. Once you are this point you are ready to get roasting!

Roasted Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds of 1 Whole Pumpkin

2 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1. Get your oven on to 120 degrees (100 fan) and line a baking tray with grease proof paper. 
2. Pop the seeds, oil and cinnamon in a bowl and toss everything together until the seeds are well coated.
3. Tip the seeds out on the lined tray and space them out so no seeds are on top of each other. 
4. Place the tray in the oven and roast for 1 hour.

It really is as simple as that, just make sure you let the seeds cool right down before you touch them as they will be super hot and no one wants burnt fingers now do they. I've used cinnamon on my seeds as I love the flavor and the delicious Christmassy smell. If you think another type of herb or spice might be better, why not give that a whirl instead. This guide my come a day after Halloween but I hope it's not too late to save some of those poor pumpkins seeds out there heading for the bin. It's such a shame that so much pumpkin goes to waste each year so break that habit and get roasting your pumpkin seeds into delicious little treats!