Toasted Pumpkin Seed Spread
Make the most of the whole pumpkin when you carve it this Halloween by saving your seeds to make this hearty seasonal spread! It can be eaten on toast, or a generous helping would make a fabulous filling for a jacket potato.
Ingredients
170g/6oz pumpkin seeds, roasted if taken straight from pumpkin (see notes for instructions)
3 ripe fresh tomatoes, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ green chilli, de-seeded and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ red onion, sliced
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the grill and toast the pumpkin seeds in the bottom of the grill pan for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Leave until completely cool. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.
- Roughly grind the seeds in a food processor or blender. Add all the remaining ingredients and whizz into a paste. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in a little water or tomato juice if very stiff.
A note on roasting pumpkin seeds...
If you are using the seeds that you've removed from your pumpkin, you'll need to roast them before following this recipe:
- Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter or oil and seasonings of your choice. (It doesn't matter if there's some pulp still attached to the seeds, this will simply add to the flavour.)
- Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven (preheated to 150°C) for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
- Leave to cool before following the recipe above.
If you love fresh seasonal produce, you can join us for an afternoon of autumn inspired dishes paired with top quality wine hand picked by wine expert and TV presenter Amelia Singer in Wines from around the World, or learn how to make more meat and dairy free dishes with our Essential Vegan class.
