The pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas are delicious small pizzas perfect to prepare in autumn and for Halloween. These are little pizza balls filled with a tasty and gooey filling, transformed into mini pumpkins using simple kitchen twine. This easy trick will make the mini pizzas really special, and making them is so easy that even kids can have fun helping out.
The preparation is very simple: divide the pizza dough into 9 rectangles and fill them in the center with tomato sauce seasoned with oil, oregano, salt, and pepper, a slice of salami, and mozzarella cubes. Close each rectangle to form a ball and wrap it with three pieces of kitchen twine to create small pumpkins. Bake in the oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes. Before enjoying, remove the twine from each pumpkin and decorate with a pretzel stick or a sprig of rosemary.
These little pumpkins are a perfect idea for an aperitif or as an appetizer for an all-pumpkin autumn menu with pumpkin-shaped pumpkin gnocchi and no-bake sweet pumpkins! They are also great as a snack. What are you waiting for? Try the pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas and let us know what you think.
Also discover:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 9 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Creative
- Seasonality: Halloween, All Seasons
Ingredients to Make Pumpkin-shaped Mini Pizzas
- 15.87 oz bread and pizza dough
- 7.05 oz salami
- 7.05 oz mozzarella
- 7.05 oz tomato passata
- extra virgin olive oil
- dried oregano
- salt
- pepper
Tools to Make Pumpkin-shaped Mini Pizzas
- 1 Knife
- Kitchen Twine
- 1 Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Oven
How to Make Pumpkin-shaped Mini Pizzas
To prepare the pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas, first roll out the risen pizza dough. Divide it into nine rectangles.
In a separate bowl, mix the tomato passata with oregano, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cut the pizza mozzarella into cubes or, if using classic mozzarella, let it drain by dicing it and placing it in a colander for a few hours. It should be dry by the end.
Spoon a few teaspoons of tomato sauce in the center of each rectangle.
Cover with a slice of salami and some mozzarella cubes.
Lift the corners of the rectangle toward the center and seal the filling inside the pizza dough to form a ball with your hands. Handle gently, being careful not to tear the pizza dough.
Wrap a piece of twine around each ball, tying a knot at the center. Repeat with a second and third twine to reproduce the pumpkin’s typical sections. Tie gently, ensuring not to tear the pizza dough. Trim any excess twine with scissors.
Place the pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until the pumpkins are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let them slightly cool, then remove the twine and decorate each pumpkin with a piece of pretzel stick or alternatively with a sprig of rosemary. Serve the pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas.
Simo and Cicci’s Advice
You can store the pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas in an airtight container for up to three days, or you can freeze them either raw or cooked.
For stuffing your pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas, you can choose from various ingredients. For example, you can make a version with cooked ham or speck and mozzarella, or with smoked salmon, tuna, or alternatively a vegetarian version with vegetables such as pumpkin, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, or broccoli. As a sauce, you can make a simple, thick pumpkin puree.
You can use either ready-made pizza dough or prepare it at home. We recommend the no-knead pizza dough, or whole wheat or gluten-free.
To make the mini pizzas more orange and therefore more similar to little pumpkins, you can brush them with egg yolk before baking.
