I didn’t grow up eating pumpkins or even squash really. We did have some summer squash like zucchini fairly often, but never any winter squashes like sugar pumpkins or this gorgeous kobucha squash. As an adult who’s interested in fresh produce and happens to live in the northeastern United States, I couldn’t stay away from winter squash for very long! My CSA produced a few great specimens this year but I had no idea what to do with them. Thankfully my fellow CSA members and a few Tweets for help came to the rescue!
Here are step-by-step instructions on processing a pumpkin/squash and toasting the seeds, enjoy!
So far, the hardest part for me out of this whole process is actually cutting into the squash! I’ve heard that pumpkin carving kits come in handy for this part but I don’t own one and by the time I decided to go look for one, Halloween had come and gone and there weren’t any sets even in the clearance post-holiday piles. Taking a cue from the carving kits, I realized that my major mistake in the past was trying to use a big knife like a chef’s knife to cut into the pumpkin or squash. A knife like a chef’s knife goes in relatively easily but then it gets stuck! Pumpkin carving kits come with very narrow serrated knives and so for this squash, I used a similarly thin knife with teeth . . . and got great results! Cutting in a straight line is also much easier than trying to cut a curve, so that’s why you see that hexagon cut out of the top of my squash. Feel free to cut a pentagon or even a square if you prefer that!
In my previous failed attempts, I’d tried to cut the thing in half in order to lay the two halves seed-side-down to cook, but this time I decided to just cut the top off, scoop out the seeds, and then roast whole. It was much easier! After cutting out the top stem, I used a regular soup spoon to scoop out the seeds and the pulp between the seeds. I was surprised by the amount of seeds in there:
This squash weighed about 5 pounds and yielded a good cup’s worth of seeds-and-pulp. That’s plenty to have on hand for snacking!
Before starting in on the seeds I’d set the oven to preheat to 375 degrees, so by the time I was done scooping, the oven was ready to go. I plopped the squash opening side down onto a baking sheet and covered it with aluminum foil, then put it in the oven for one hour.
While the squash roasted, I prepped the seeds. First you need to separate the seeds from the pulp, so you end up with just seeds:
When I was done I was happy to see that there was more volume in seeds than in pulp!
Next I soaked the seeds in cold water for about 30 minutes, then laid them out on paper towels to dry:
They were dry at about the same time as the squash was ready to come out of the oven, so I lowered the oven temperature to 300 degrees and spread the pumpkin seeds out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled lightly with salt, and popped them into the oven for about 15 minutes. In the meantime I let the squash cool down a bit before handling it. I hear that you should watch pumpkin seeds closely as they toast because they can burn easily!
When they came out they looked like this:
And they taste delicious! Next time I may try to spice them up but they really are quite perfect with just a bit of sea salt.
Once the squash had cooled down enough to handle, I cut it into quarters:
And again using a regular soup spoon, scooped out all the flesh and threw out the rind. Now that I’ve cut it up post-roasting, I’ll never again try to cut a squash or pumpkin before cooking! Cutting the roasted squash was literally as easy as cutting butter.
And now I have two containers of squash meat to turn into deliciousness . . . but more on that a little bit later!
Want these instructions in quick-reference format? Here you go:
Processing pumpkin or squash:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Using a narrow serrated knife, remove top stem and cut opening wide enough for reaching inside to scoop out seeds. With a soup spoon, scoop out seeds and pulp. Reserve for toasting (see below!).
Place scooped-out squash opening side down on a baking sheet or roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Roast for about 1 hour or until flesh is easily pierced with a fork. My approx. 5 pound squash took a bit over an hour to finish roasting. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool enough to handle, cut squash into quarters and scoop out flesh, discarding rind. Depending on what you’ll be using the flesh for, you may also want to press the flesh through a sieve for a smoother finish (ie, for soup!).
Roasting seeds:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Separate pulp from seeds and discard pulp. Soak seeds in cold water for approximately 30 minutes, then lay out on towels to dry. When dry, toss with small amount of salt (approx 1/2 tsp) and spread in single layer on cookie sheet. Toast for about 10-15 minutes, until seeds are dry and slightly brown. Watch seeds closely to avoid burning!
