Roasty Toasties ⋆ mennu.com

What are they?

Roasty Toasties are roasted garlic, toasted sunflower, pumpkin, flax and sesame seeds. They were initially made for sprinkling over salad, but they also go well with cooked rice, butternut squash soup, or straight out of the jar.

How do you make these Roasty Toasties?

Roasting The Garlic

Peel and slice garlic into thin strips. Try to find garlic with large cloves since they are easier to slice.

Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Using a pastry brush, paint the foil lined sheet with a thin layer of olive oil. Lay out sliced garlic on the sheet so there is space between slices. Bake at 400 degrees.

After about 8-10 minutes the garlic will start to turn brown and harden. Keep an eye on your garlic — you don’t want it to burn, but you want it to turn brown.

If the garlic is brown, then it’s good. If it’s totally black, remove and discard.

And if you want to get really OCD on this, then separate out all the garlic slices that aren’t brown and put them back in the oven for a few minutes.

Until they are totally brown.

Toasting The Seeds

I use a huge flat dry frying pan. Here it is near my head for perspective.

Toasting brings out the oils in the seeds. All seeds toast at a different temperature so make sure to toast all the seeds separately. Set your stove to a low setting, like 3 out of 10. The temperature and time will vary, so make sure to keep an eye on it, and toss the seeds every 2-3 minutes.

Sunflower Seeds

Raw:

Toasted:

Put the toasted seeds into a huge bowl or large tin. All the toasted seeds go into the same container for cooling. The oils that emerge from the seeds mingle with each other and produce a more complex flavor for the whole mixture. Salt the seeds as soon as you put them in the bowl.

Pumpkin Seeds

Here’s the pepitas right out of the package. They are already lightly roasted but I like to give it a more thorough toasting.

When you hear some popping and cracking, then you are just about there. Here’s how they look toasted:

Pour them into the bowl, add a little more salt and toss the mixture.

Flax Seeds

Here they are right out of the package:

They don’t really change color, but you’ll see the oil emerging from the seeds.

Drop into the bowl and top with some more salt.

Mix the flax with the salt and then stir up the entire mixture. Some of the flax seeds might stick to the pan after you pour them out. Use a paper towel to wipe the stragglers into the bowl. Save that paper towel, you’ll need it for the sesame seeds.

Sesame Seeds

Sesame seeds can easily go from raw to burnt, so use a slightly lower heat setting.

Are they done yet?

No.

Are they done yet?

Almost.

Are they done yet?

Yes. When they start to turn brown, they are done. Add them to the big bowl mix with some salt and toss the entire mixture.

Back To The Garlic

Once the garlic has cooled down, put it into a spice mill and hit it for about 3-4 quick pulses. If you don’t have a spice mill, you can use a mortar and pestle, or you can crush it up in your hands. Do not grind in a coffee mill. This will cause your roasty toasties to taste like coffee and your coffee to taste like garlic.