Pumpkin shaped patties with meat and cabbage (polish recipe)

Traditional polish recipe for patties with meet and cabbage. Inspired by autumn – in shape of mini pumpkins, they look really impressive. The patties have a dark colour thanks the whole wheat flour.
Ingredients for the pastry :
- 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour (about 400g)
- 40g fresh yeast
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 3 teaspoons white sugar
- 3 yolks (room temperature)
- 100g butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- For egg wash: 2 yolks and 1 tablespoon of milk
Ingredients for the filling :
- 500g cooked meat cooked, for example: beef, chicken, pork
- Cooked vegetables: 2-3 carrots, 1 parsley, 1 onion, 1 celery, 1 small leek
- 500g sauerkraut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Recipe for the filling:
- Rinse the sauerkraut and cook until tender,
- After cooking drain the sauerkraut well of moisture,
- Grind meat, sauerkraut and cooked vegetables in a meat grinder,
- Season the filling with salt and ground pepper, mix all ingredients and leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours,
Recipe for the the pastry :
- In a medium bowl mix together warm milk, sugar, 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture and let it stand for 15-30 minutes. Yeast should foam strongly,
- After 30 minutes add to the bowl: remaining flour, salt, egg yolks, butter and yeast mixture,
- Mix ingredients together and process until dough starts to form,
- Shape dough into a round piece; place it in a bowl and cover the dough with a tea-towel. Leave the dough in a warm place for about 1-1.5 hours to rise (it should double its volume),
- Take out the dough, divide it into 16-18 balls, flatten each ball into a circle,
- Spoon 1 large tablespoon of filling into the centre of each circle and shape the dough into a round ball,
- Wrap each dough ball in kitchen twine 3 times, wrapping the twine around the dough ball not too tightly to create a pumpkin shape (similar like gift packing),
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees,
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the patties , apply prepared egg wash to each pumpkin with pastry brush,
- Bake for about 30 minutes, allow patties to cool for a 15 minutes, then remove the kitchen twine gently.


