Perfect for after-school snacks, party finger food, or as part of a meal, these kid-approved baked cheesy pumpkin tots are really easy to make, nutritious, and they freeze well too.
Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6). Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment or a silicone mat.
Place the prepared pumpkin into a bowl with the olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Mix well, ensuring each piece is coated.
Turn out onto the cookie sheet, and spread evenly in a single layer. Add the entire garlic head, and bake for 25 minutes, until it's soft, and the pumpkin is tender enough to stick a fork into.
Remove from the oven, and put the pumpkin into a food processor bowl. Squeeze the garlic from its skin into the bowl too. Either discard the parchment, and re-line your cookie sheet with a new piece, or wash any pumpkin juice from the silicone mat, and replace on the cookie sheet.
Add the parsley and savory to the food processor, and pulse a few times to make a rough mash. Don't process too much, or else the mixture will be too wet, and won't hold together. (note 3)
Turn out the mixture into a large mixing bowl, and add the minced onion, dried breadcrumbs, potato starch, nutritional yeast flakes, the rest of the salt and pepper, flax, and grated cheese, if using.
Mix well - I find it's easiest to do this with my hands - then form into tots.
Set up a dredging station: take three dishes, and place the rice flour in one, the aquafaba in another, and the Panko in the last one.
Dredge a tot in the rice flour, then roll in the aquafaba, and finally, coat with Panko. Place onto the cookie sheet. Repeat for all the tots.
Spray with a few squirts of oil, then bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the tots start to become crispy. Flip over (they should be golden-brown in the underside), spray again, and then bake for another 15 mins.