28 Oct Pepitas (Spicy Pumpkin Seeds)
In Mexico, pepitas are a favorite savory snack. Lightly toasted with salt, sugar, and a hint of chipotle chile, they are a perfect addition to a snack tray for a card game or a pre-dinner cocktail. (We do love them with a glass of Prosecco.)
Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin seeds
3 garlic cloves, minced
kosher or sea salt, to taste
2 teaspoons crushed dried chipotle chiles
sugar, to taste
lime wedges, to serve
Preparation
Scoop the seeds out of a pumpkin and rinse them briskly in a bowl of water to separate out the strings. Lay the seeds out on paper towels and blot well to dry.
Heat a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the pumpkin seeds, dry-frying them for a few minutes. They will dry out and begin to swell. Be sure to keep the seeds moving in the pan so they don’t burn.
After the seeds have puffed up, add the minced garlic and sauté for a few minutes more, adding the salt and crushed chipotles. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the sugar over the seeds, then shake the pan well to coat the seeds.
Serve the pepitas hot with wedges of lime for squeezing over the hot seeds.