Meatloaf-Stuffed Mini Pumpkins for #PumpkinWeek

Hi and welcome to day 5 of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of Love and Confections. We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder.

Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board!

For this fifth day of #PumpkinWeek, I have a funny story.

Last year, my then 9-year-old had a pet pumpkin. He had gotten it at a market at the beginning of the month and it slept on his pillow and watched him do his homework. One day I jokingly threatened to cook his pumpkin. I was joking, but D was not amused. So, needless to say...when I served this dish, the first thing he did was run to his room to make sure that his pumpkin hadn't been a casualty of my pumpkin massacre. Then he announced, "Pumpkin is not coming to the dinner table tonight because I don't want him to see me eating his friends." He added, "You're a mean mommy." Tell me something I don't know.

Somewhere along my pumpkin travels, I saw meatloaf-stuffed mini pumpkins. After last year's experiment, I've been making them whenever I see mini-pumpkins. D refused to get a pet pumpkin this year. So, I happily purchased a handful and called them dinner.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 6 mini pumpkins
• 1 lb ground meat (I used a combination of ground turkey and ground beef)
• 1 egg
• 1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1/4 C ground nut (I used hazelnuts)
• 1/2 C shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)
• 1/2 C dried cranberries
• 1/2 t curry powder
• dash of ground cardamom
• dash of ground coriander
• dash of smoked paprika
• freshly ground sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil

Procedure

Cut open and clean out your pumpkins. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, blend together the meat, egg, leek, ground hazelnuts, and spices. Mix well. Add in the cranberries and cheese. And mix again.

Stuff the pumpkins with the meat mixture, taking care to press the meat all the way into the pumpkin so that there are no air pockets. 

Place the pumpkins back on the baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil. 

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Your pumpkins should be soft to the touch, i.e., squeezable, and the meat nicely browned on the top.

Hope you're enjoying pumpkin season and this week full of pumpkin goodness!

Check out all the Day 5 #PumpkinWeek recipes

Pumpkin Pie Chia Granola by Love and Confections
Meatloaf-Stuffed Mini Pumpkins by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
White Chocolate Reeses Pumpkin Blondies by The Spiffy Cookie
Pumpkin and Corn Chowder by Curious Cuisiniere
Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes by Life Tastes Good
Pumpkin Spice Cookie Blossoms by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Curried Roasted Pumpkin Hummus by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Praline Frosted Pumpkin Brownies by My Catholic Kitchen
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter by Making Miracles
Pumpkin Biscotti by The Pajama Chef
White Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake by Dizzy Busy and Hungry