Toasted squash seeds

Yes, yes, we will get to the actual squash later. There are lots of ways to cook squash. OK, mostly three ways. Bake, grill, saute. Oh, wait, four ways. Microwave. But there is only ONE way to get the squash ready to cook. (I am talking about winter squash here, not, shudder, zucchini. You are not likely to ever find a zucchini recipe on this blog, unless of course I find one that is soooo good ...)

You have to cut it open, usually by cutting it in half, carefully, with your biggest knife, and scoop out the seeds and the gross slimy stringy parts that are attached to the seeds. The gross slimy stringy parts will dry up overnight and you can pick them off more easily. Or you can go ahead right away and roast the seeds and the gross slimy stringy parts will turn crunchy and you can pick them off very easily -- or eat them. Crunchy, they are no longer gross. Kinda good, even.

Put the oven on 350. You could go higher if you are in a hurry, but that would mean you'd really have to watch them. Get out a cast iron skillet or a baking pan -- or, in my case, the cast-iron lid to my Dutch oven that also serves as a griddle. You want something with at least a little bit of a lip to keep the seeds (and the oil you will be adding) from sliding off. You want something big enough that the seeds will only be in one layer. If I were toasting seeds from more than one squash, I would use what is called a jelly roll pan, which is a cookie sheet with a lip around all four sides.

Put in about two teaspoons of olive oil, enough to coat the pan liberally. The oil is there partly for flavor but also to help convey the heat to the seeds and get the seasonings (later) to stick to them, while keeping the seeds from sticking to the pan. You could skip it or cut back, but I'd be careful.

Put in the seeds and whatever slime is still attached to them, stir them around a bit, add salt and pepper and put in the oven.

After 5 minutes, stir.

After another 5 minutes, stir again and pluck out one to taste. Wait! Don't just pop it in your mouth, unless you like a burnt mouth. Let it cool for half a minute. Nope, probably not done yet. But you could weigh your options here and decide if you wanted to add more salt or pepper or garlic powder or paprika or even cayenne. I stuck with the salt and pepper. Note that if you DO want to add more seasonings, it is best to do it while they are hot. But of course you don't want things like paprika and garlic to burn, so you could wait until the last minute when you finally take them out of the oven.

Give 'em another 5 minutes, probably, but peek once in a while. Mine took about 15 minutes total, but it probably depends. If you had let them dry overnight, for example, it would take less time. Also, the cast iron pan takes longer to heat up than, say, an aluminum cooking pan, but then it distributes the heat so nicely afterward.

They are done when they are toasty looking and crunchy but not blackened, unless you are one of those people who likes burnt popcorn. I have nothing to say to you. Look at the picture.

This also works with pumpkin seeds, obviously, because that's really just a kind of squash. It's especially fun to "harvest" the seeds when you are making a jack o'lantern.

And, yes, you can be baking the squash at the same time. Put the cut halves in an ovenproof dish, cut side up, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. The squash itself will take longer than the seeds, depending on how big the squash is. Maybe even an hour. But you can munch on the seeds while you are waiting for the main course.

The squash I cooked produced maybe a cup of seeds. I ate half of them before I took this picture. What can I say? They are that good.

You can store them in a zip-lock bag -- oh, who are we kidding? I have no idea how to store them, as the issue has never come up.