I love pumpkin seeds, especially ones that are already shelled, bagged and ready to eat! What could only make them better would be to take those earthy, buttery flavored seeds, toast them, grind them into a paste, then add spices and tomatoes to make a dip…a nutty salsa, if you will.

What you get is something the Yucatan people call Si Kil Pac. In the markets of the Yucatan you can find large bowls displaying varied degrees of toasted pumpkin seed that have already been ground to a paste. Much coarser and drier than peanut butter, the pumpkin seed paste is used in many different ways from sauces to thickeners in stews.

I also bought a tortilla press a few weeks ago and was determined to make fresh corn tortillas. I have to say it wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be and once I got the hang of the press I moved right along like a machine. Plus, it took me back to having a Playdoh Fun Factory as a kid. Seriously, the taste was well worth the effort and since I had made this fabulous dip I took the tortillas one step further and turned them into chips - Baked, not fried.

Try this at your next party, on a piece of pita or eat it with a celery stick…anyway you do it you will love it.

Pumpkin seeds.

Already toasted pumpkin seeds.

Ground to a course paste.

Roasting some plum tomatoes under the broiler.

Roasted tomatoes, ready to be diced.

Dicing an onion. I also diced one habanero chili and some cilantro, mixed them into a bowl with the tomatoes and pumpkin seed paste, squeezed in the juice of a lime and added salt to taste.

In another bowl I mixed a cup of masa flour with a bit of water until a dough formed then I rolled into a snake and cut equal pieces.

I wrapped both sides of the press with plastic wrap and placed one ball of dough on the bottom plate.

Pressing the dough.

One Tortilla ready to be lightly fried, then cut into wedges and baked…and enjoyed with some Si Kil Pac!

Get the recipe here.

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