Sometimes you need dinner to be quick and easy, but sometimes, you just need it to be delicious. When you have time for indulgence, then pasta is surely the way to go. Made with potato, gnocchi can make for a filling and truly satisfying meal which comes together with very few ingredients. And since it’s fall, it’s only fitting that we honour the Halloween season and utilise pumpkins to the very best of their abilities too.
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Gnocchi:
- 1 medium-large russet baking potato
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon Butter
Sage Butter Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 6 sage leaves and a smashed clove of garlic
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup starchy water (leftover from boiling the gnocchi)
Method:
- Potato Prep: Bake the potato and pull off the skin. Let the potato rest for a while to cool down. Once it’s cool enough to handle, grate it until you have about 1 ½ cups of very fine potato shreds.
- Gnocchi Dough: Mix potato shreds with pumpkin puree. Measure flour onto a clean surface and put the potato/pumpkin mixture in the centre. Make a well and crack your egg into it. Sprinkle salt on top. Grab a fork and whisk up the egg real quick. Using your hands, mix all ingredients into a dough. Don’t overmix. When it starts to come together, form the dough into a mostly smooth, rounded loaf.
- Gnocchi Prep: Cut off slices of the mound and roll each one into a long rope. Cut the rope into bite-sized pieces. Place the gnocchi pieces on a plate (make sure they’ve got a little flour coating so they don’t stick).
- Cooking the Gnocchi: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the gnocchi, carefully, one at a time, to the water. You may need to work in batches. When the gnocchi rises to the top of the pot of boiling water, immediately remove them with a slotted spoon. Set aside. Melt your butter in a large nonstick skillet. Pan fry the gnocchi, undisturbed, to get one side lightly crispy and leave the other side soft. Remove from pan and set aside to wait for sauce.
- Butter Sauce: In the same pan, add butter, sage leaves, and garlic clove. Let the garlic and sage cook for a few minutes over low heat. When the sage leaves are starting to get crispy, remove them from heat. Remove garlic as well.
- When it’s melted, add the flour and whisk. Add the heavy cream and whisk. Add the starchy water slowly, whisking to make a sauce that is the consistency you want.
- Toss with gnocchi, top with sage leaves and Parmesan
