Pumpkin Sage Balls and Nutty Pumpkin Granola

After several years of clipping from newspapers and magazines, I’ve amassed quite a stack of  “Must-Try Recipes.”  To deal with this unwieldy bunch of delicious things-in-waiting, I started a system a few years ago of pasting these recipes into a more organized recipe book.  The idea was that once these recipes were more organized, they would be easier to find and thus easier to make.

When I recently filled up my first recipe book and looked back through its pages, I realized that I had yet to make over three-quarters of the recipes in the book!  Before moving on to my second recipe book, I decided I needed to devote some time and energy to making some of my many saved recipes.

One of these recipes that I’ve long wanted to try is a recipe for pumpkin sage balls.   I love the combination of sage and winter squash and I also had most of the ingredients on hand, including a can of pumpkin puree left over from making those delicious pumpkin whoopie pies this past fall.   Since the pumpkin sage ball recipe didn’t quite use up all of the pumpkin puree, I decided to also make some pumpkin granola from a recipe that I had bookmarked online.

Though I feel like I accomplished something by making two of my “Must-Try Recipes,” I still have a long way to go.   I’d love to hear any ideas you may have come up with for organizing and prioritizing the many delicious recipes that we so often come across, whether they are in cookbooks, magazines, online, or that dusty box up in the attic…!

Pumpkin Sage Balls

Adapted from Vegetarian Times (March 2008)

These little pumpkin balls can be served individually as appetizers or serve several of them together for an entrée.  I served them with a little store-made green tomatillo sauce that was mixed with a little buttermilk.

• 1-2 tablespoons oil
• ½ cup finely diced onions
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2½ teaspoons of minced fresh sage
• ¾ to 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ¾ to 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until it is lightly brown (10 minutes or so).  Add garlic and chopped sage and cook for a few more minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, lightly beaten egg, salt and pepper.  Stir in the onion mixture and add the panko.  Form the dough into 1 to 2 inch balls.  If the balls feel a little soft and are not holding together add some more panko to the mixture.  Place the balls on to the prepared baking sheet.   Bake for 10-15 minutes at 375° or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Nutty Pumpkin Granola

From Erin’s Food Files

For this recipe, I replaced the pepitas with sunflower seeds (I couldn’t find pepitas) and added about 1 tablespoon of canola oil and about ¼ cup of shredded coconut.  Since I adapted this recipe just slightly, I think I’ll send you to the original source for the recipe.

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