Chicken Meatballs with Pumpkin Romesco

    Juicy chicken meatballs filled with parmesan cheese, fresh mint, and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, are tossed in a spicy pumpkin romesco sauce.

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups cubed raw pumpkin
    • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
    • 3 cloves Garlic
    • 1 Red Bell Pepper
    • 1 Habanero
    • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
    • 1 tablespoon Paprika
    • 1 teaspoon Coriander
    • 2 tablespoons Cider Vinegar
    • unsweetened almond milk if needed
    • 1 pound Ground Chicken
    • 2 slices Bread toasted
    • 2 tablespoons Milk
    • 1 cup Parmesan
    • 1 clove Garlic
    • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
    • 1 pinch Nutmeg
    • 1 pinch Coriander
    • 1/4 cup Chopped Mint
    • 1 pound brussel sporouts cleaned and quartered
    • 8 ounces Crimini Mushrooms sliced

    Instructions

    1. Put the pumpkin, seeds, garlic, bell pepper, habanero, and olive oil onto a sheet tray. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast at 450 for about 40 minutes.
    2. Take the seeds and skin off the bell pepper, and remove the seeds from the habanero if desired. Take about 20 pumpkin seeds and set aside for garnish. Place evertything from the sheet pan including the oil and add to a blender. Add the vinegar, paprika, and coriander, Blend until smooth adding a little milk if it's too thick.
    3. Mix the meatball ingredients. Form meatballs. Broil on high for 7 minutes until browned. Flip and repeat.
    4. Add the romesco to a pan and add the meatballs. Bring to a simmer adding milk as needed if it gets too thick.
    5. In another pan, cook the mushrooms and brussel sprouts on high to sear. Season with salt and pepper.
    6. Serve the veggies and spoon meatballs on top.

    Notes

    The thing is romesco sauce is already orange. I was looking at a romesco sauce in a photo and it made me think it would be fun to add pumpkin and really “Fall it up” with some mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. I fallowed a fairly typical romesco recipe, but swapped out the tomato for pumpkin, and the almonds for pumpkin seeds. It obviously came out a little thicker than a traditional version, so I thinned it out with some almond milk. It went great on these chicken meatballs and fall veggies.


    Roast the pumpkin with the seeds, a bell pepper, habanero, and garlic. This is more pumpkin than actually went into the mixture.

    Once it is tender, add everything to a bowl or blender with some spices and vinegar and blend it up.

    The sauce was a great texture and would be awesome just served with some bread.

    The meatballs were chicken, garlic, parm, mint, bread, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The veggies were just seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed on super high heat.

    The flavors in this are just what you want to eat this time of year! Very savory and warming with a little tartness from the vinegar and a kick from the habanero.