Pumpkin/Squash Gnocchi

Lalaloula's Note:

This recipe comes from a wonderful pumpkin/squash cook book that my sis found at a local book store. It is rather easy to make and the end results taste very nice. This recipe is great for company for it looks quite impressive and everybody will think you spent the whole day in the kitchen. ;)

• Total Time: 49 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 4 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 3

• 500 g pumpkin (I used hokkaido squash) or 500 g squash (I used hokkaido squash)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 400 -500 g flour (depending on how wet your pumpkin puree is)
• salt, pepper
• sage or rosemary

Directions:

1. Wash, peel (if necessary) and chop the pumpkin/squash. Cook covered in water for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
2. Place pumpkin/squash in a bowl and mash. Add egg, oil and herbs. Mix well. Little by little sift in the flour and fold in carefully. Using your hands work into a smooth, but not sticky dough (this might require extra flour).
3. Turn out onto a floured surface and form into rolls of about 1 cm thickness. Cut into pieces and flatten with a fork to create a decorative pattern.
4. Cook gnocchi in a big pot (it shouldnt be crowed or theyll stick together) in boiling salt water for about 3-4 minutes and serve with a sauce of your choice (I used a herby cheese sauce, but tomato or pesto would ge great as well.).
5. If you dont want to use a very large pot, you can also cook the gnocchi in portions, keeping the already cooked ones warm in the oven.

Reviews

[Shuzbud]

This was my first attempt at gnocchi and I'll definitely try it again! I used 1 (15oz) can of pumpkin puree and unlike Wish I Could Cook, I didn't saute it first to dry it out (I will next time), so my dough needed 2 1/2 cups of flour. My dough was still a bit sticky so I pulled it out of the bowl and put it on the countertop in rope-shaped batches, sprinkling the countertop and dough with flour, then it was relatively easy to make a sausage shape. Thanks Loula for introducing me to the world of making gnocchi!

[Wish I Could Cook]

Little pumpkin pillows from heaven! I used a small 15 oz. can of pumpkin, and about a cup of flour in the mix. I first "reduced" the canned pumpkin and herbs in a frying pan to dry it out a little before adding the egg and oil and flour (so that I didn't have to use as much flour because I like my gnocchi on the light side.) The result was a moist/sticky dough. I then took a heaping tablespoon sized blob that I plopped onto a floured board. Using floured hands, I rolled the dough into a "rope." (I found that if I used too big of a blob, the rope got too long and didn't roll nicely.) Tip to future gnocchi makers: when you cut the little pillows from the rope, set them on a flour-dusted plate or wax paper to transfer them to the boiling water. Otherwise they will stick and deform when you move them (thus the reason there's no picture posted from me...) I served the gnocchi with a melted butter sage sauce. The result was a fantastic, light but filling meal. Delish!

[Bridget C]

Like many, we had to add quite a bit of flour - and this was after I had reduced the pumpkin down on the stovetop til it was quite dry. Perhaps this is why we could hardly taste the pumpkin with all the flour we had to add, which was a disappointment. We served ours with a sage and butter/olive oil sauce - the traditional sauce in the north of Italy to go with pumpkin stuffed raviolis.