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Meatloaf-Stuffed Mini Pumpkins for #PumpkinWeek

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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
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Comments

  1. A Day in the Life on the FarmOctober 24, 2014 at 6:41 AM

    A Completely adorable idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah | Curious CuisiniereOctober 24, 2014 at 7:46 AM

    I am in LOVE with this. I'm grabbing some mini pumpkins next time I'm at the market!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Camilla M. MannOctober 24, 2014 at 8:39 PM

      You totally should. I think I'll make them again soon. It's still pumpkin season!

      Delete
  3. sarah k @ the pajama chefOctober 24, 2014 at 4:35 PM

    what a great idea! and what a cute story about your son. when i was in elementary school i had a pumpkin that was MINE and i kept it in my room. and it rotted. in my room. i have no idea how that happened, but it left a mark on the hardwood floor that never came out. haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Camilla M. MannOctober 24, 2014 at 8:39 PM

      Glad to know that my kid isn't the only one who had a pet pumpkin!! I wonder what in it stained your floor. Weird!

      Delete
  4. ErinOctober 24, 2014 at 10:20 PM

    I'm not a big fan of meatloaf but I LOVE this presentation!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Life Tastes GoodOctober 26, 2014 at 11:13 PM

    Always looking for a new meatloaf recipe! I love how creative this is!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. RebekahOctober 27, 2014 at 9:29 AM

    This is adorable and I love that you can eat the mini pumpkins whole like this - would never have even thought to do that! Yumm!

    ReplyDelete

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