Pumpkin Balls

It is pumpkin season, which I always welcome. Eating with the seasons is just perfect, especially when it’s locally grown and preferably from your own backyard.

We discovered a wild pumpkin growing down ‘the bank’ of our property, much to our delight. Sure enough, several fine pumpkins were harvested just a few weeks ago. The plant will naturally die off after being hit with frost and it’s best to harvest those sweet little things before they get too wet and begin to rot on the vine.

I love pumpkin in many forms, but I did want to share this easy Pumpkin Ball recipe that I’ve served up on many occasions, most recently when I catered for our DIY backyard wedding early in the year.

This is a ‘one oven tray wonder’ recipe if you ignore a sneaky saute of onion in a fry pan beforehand. Follow the instructions, but pretty much plonk everything (except the sushi vinegar and feta) into a non-stick oven try or large casserole dish, raw rice included. The vegetable stock cooks with the rice using the absorption method, the pumpkin roasts and infuses with the flavours – it is a beautiful thing.

You’ll note in the ingredients I’ve used garlic scapes. What the heck are they, you may ask? Scapes are the edible flower stalks that grow from the top of garlic plants when they are mature. They have a mild, garlicky flavour in comparison to the garlic clove itself and can be used in a variety of dishes.

Garnish with some pink peppercorns, and you are in business!

Pumpkin Balls – photos: Amy Bailey (who kindly took photos as I was a bit ‘busy’ getting married).

Pumpkin Balls

Ingredients

• 4 cups diced raw pumpkin, approx 600g
• 2 cups of arborio or sushi rice, uncooked
• 50g butter
• 5 garlic scapes, chopped
• 1 onion
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup of homemade relish
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp coriander
• 1 tsp crushed chilli
• 1/4 cup sushi vinegar
• 100g feta
• sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds, to roll

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. Remove skin from raw pumpkin and dice into small 2cm cubes.
3. Measure rice and set aside.
4. Saute butter, garlic scapes and onion on low heat until soft, approx 10 minutes.
5. Add all of the above to a non-stick oven tray or large casserole dish. Add vegetable stock, relish, salt, coriander and chilli. Combine well.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. Test with a skewer and when pumpkin is soft, remove from the oven and add vinegar. If the pumpkin is not fully cooked, or if the rice is beginning to look a little dry, simply add a dash more vegetable stock. Cool to room temperature.
7. Add feta, mash pumpkin roughly if necessary, then roll pumpkin mix into small balls in the palm of your hands, approximately the size of a walnut.
8. Roll in sesame seeds or crushed pumpkin seeds.
9. Serve cold on a platter, or warm as desired.

Enjoy!