Cheesy Garlic Pumpkin Buns

Ingredients

• Butchers twine
• 550–600g ball pizza dough, store-bought or homemade
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• ¾ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Small basil sprigs

Directions

1. Heat your oven to 400ºF and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Cut eight 2- to 3-foot lengths of butchers twine and set aside.
2. Divide the dough into eight roughly equal pieces and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pesto, and garlic until evenly combined.
4. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten the dough to about ¼-inch thick. Spoon about 1/8th of the cheese mixture into the centre of the dough and gather up the edges to form a little parcel. Using a pair of kitchen shears, cut the tail of extra dough from the top of the parcel, flip the bundle over, and set aside on the parchment lined sheet pan. Continue until all the dough has been used.
5. To create the little pumpkin buns, tie the string around each bundle, crossing the string like you would a package. You want to loop the string around the bundle three or four times to give the pumpkin six to eight segments. As you wrap the string, pull tight enough so that the dough bulges out a bit but not too tight as the dough will expand as it cooks.
6. Once all the pumpkin buns have been formed, arrange seam side down and whisk together the egg yolk and paprika. Brush the buns with the egg wash.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden.
8. Allow the buns to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before snipping off the strings and garnishing with sprigs of basil for the pumpkin stalks.