Savory Stuffed Pumpkins for All of Fall

I struggle with Halloween party food. I know it’s supposed to be a time to embrace the tacky (as Executive Chef/Owner Lisa Counts likes to remind me), but as I scoured Pinterest looking for something creative yet still delicious, I found dishes like ketchup “blood” sandwiches on white bread. No thanks. And how many mummied hot dogs does any one party need?

When I saw this dish in Better Homes and Gardens, I thought we’re onto something here. These little savory pumpkins were so cute, and they could be used all fall, not just for Halloween. BHG’s version uses frozen meatballs and refrigerated biscuit dough so I thought I would turn this dish into a delicious homemade version. It was a fun project! 

First, I chose a sweet potato biscuit recipe since I thought the orange color would make the pumpkins look even more like pumpkins. Sage and apple go brilliantly with sweet potatoes, so I found a TCB recipe for pork breakfast patties and adapted it to my needs.

These meatballs can be done in advance to save time on the day you will assemble and serve the pumpkins. I doubled the recipe and froze half of them to use later this fall, perhaps for Thanksgiving!

Chef Sara Salzinski suggested caramelizing the onions for this recipe rather than using raw onions and as usual, she was spot on.

The combination of sweet caramelized onions with earthy fresh sage and slightly licorice-flavored fennel seeds leads to a very flavorful meatball. Be sure to toast those fennel seeds for a few minutes in a dry pan until aromatic.

Use a mortar and pestle to crush the fennel seeds once they are toasted. 

Then mix everything together.

Don't forget those beautifully caramelized onions!

As always, when making meatballs, I suggest combining all the ingredients and then cooking a very small piece so you can test the mixture for seasoning. It’s so much easier to adjust before you cook the whole batch of meatballs rather than trying to adjust seasoning later.

I use a portion scoop to make sure the meatballs are all the same size for even cooking.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. These will bake again within the sweet potato dough so it’s okay if they are not completely cooked all the way through. Mine actually reached an internal temperature of 155 degrees, which is done, and they did not get overcooked in the second bake. 

Apple, Sage and Fennel Pork Meatballs

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 15 meatballs

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 10 minutes

Start to finish: 30 minutes (can be made a day in advance or even further in advance and frozen)

1 pound ground pork

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and cracked in a mortar and pestle

1/2 tart apple, peeled and grated

1/2 yellow onion, small dice

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon fresh sage, rough chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1. Heat butter in a small saucepan and cook onions until caramelized. Let cool slightly.
2. To make the meatballs, mix the pork, fennel seeds, apple, onion, egg, salt, pepper, sage and nutmeg.
3. Use a portion scoop to shape into 1-inch meatballs and place on a parchment-lined sheet tray.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cool. If not using right away, refrigerate or freeze for later use. 

Sweet Potatoes

Another do-ahead step in this recipe is to roast the sweet potatoes and mash them.

You'll need one cup of mashed sweet potatoes for the biscuit dough which is approximately one large sweet potato. I made a double batch which is why I have three sweet potatoes. 

Prick the potatoes with a knife and roast it in a 375 degree F oven on a sheet try until fork tender, which will take about an hour.

Cool, then remove the skin and mash with a potato masher. Put in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the dough.

The Dough

This is a simple dough to make, especially if you have a food processor. First, you’ll mix together all of the dry ingredients in the food processor.

Add the cold butter in and then pulse until the butter is incorporated.

Add the cheese and the mashed sweet potatoes and process until the dough comes together in one ball.

This video shows exactly how long the dough should process. 

The next step is to roll out the dough.

Since we are wrapping the dough around meatballs, it should be rolled thinner than you would if you were just making regular biscuits. So, roll it out to ½-inch thickness rather than the typical one-inch thickness you would use for biscuits.

Then use a 4-inch diameter biscuit or cookie cutter to cut the dough.

I was able to get 15 biscuits from one batch of dough. Keep in mind this dough is very forgiving, so you can reroll the scraps several times to get more biscuits.

Place a meatball in the center of each dough circle. 

Wrap the dough around the meatball forming a ball in your palms.

Once you have all of your formed balls, place them in the refrigerator as you shape each ball into a pumpkin. 

To shape the balls into pumpkin, you'll need oven-safe kitchen string. I measured each piece of string as two times the length of my cutting board.

You'll basically wrap the string around the ball like a package. 

Continue to flip the ball and twist the string until you have eight quadrants on the pumpkin.

I couldn't find good instruction of how to shape the pumpkins online so I created this video so you can watch me do it. 

Once you have all of the pumpkins tied, bake them on a parchment-lined sheet tray at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. 

Let the pumpkins cool for 5-10 minutes and then cut off and remove the string. 

Brush the pumpkins with melted butter. 

Slice a handful of pecan halves in half to use as the stems. 

Then stick the pecans into the pumpkins as the stems. 

Now you have the perfect little bundles of flavor for any fall holiday! 

Sweet Potato Biscuit Stuffed Pumpkins

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 15 biscuits 

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes 

Start to finish: 1 hour, 10 minutes 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1 tablespoon granulated sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

Black pepper to taste 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 

1 cup roasted and mashed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup pecan halves, cut in half 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 375º F, and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.  
2. In a food processor, measure together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and pepper and pulse a few times. 
3. Add the cold butter, and pulse until the butter is in small pieces throughout the flour mixture.  
4. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and cheese, and process just until the dough comes together in one large clump.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface, and roll it to a ½-inch thickness with a rolling pin.   
6. Cut the dough into 4-inch circles using a biscuit or cookie cutter. 
7. Wrap each circle around a pork meatball and seal forming into a ball with your hands. Place the balls in the refrigerator as you work.
8. When all balls are done, use kitchen twine to wrap the balls into 8 segments but don’t pull the string too tight. You want to give the dough room to expand as it bakes.
9. Bake until they are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Allow to cool a bit before cutting off the twine.
11. Brush with melted butter, stick half a pecan half in the center of the pumpkin and serve.   

These would be great as either a Thanksgiving breakfast or appetizer before you have your big feast!

If you could use some help preparing that meal, The Chopping Block has several options for you: 

• Thanksgiving Crash Course Demonstration Friday, November 3 10am This is our chef instructors' favorite class to teach, and you learn how to make the entire meal in real time! 
• Hands-On Thanksgiving Workshop Saturday, November 18 10am If you prefer to get your hands dirty, this workshop is for you! 
• Virtual Thanksgiving Crash Course Demonstration Sunday, November 19 10am CST We've adapted our most popular Thanksgiving class for virtual so you can take it where ever you may be! 

And of course, we are now taking orders for Thanksgiving pies. We'll have our famous Apple Pie as well as classic Pumpkin Pie available for pick up from Lincoln Square right before the holiday. Whether you are cooking the entire feast yourself or just bringing a dish, The Chopping Block is your go-to Thanksgiving resource!