We mentioned when we picked up our CSA share that included a pumpkin that we don’t carve it into a jack o’ lantern; instead, we eat it, by roasting it and scraping out the flesh. Sometimes we make Pumpkin Bread, sometimes Pumpkin Pie, and, sometimes, we have it as a main course in meals such as this one. (We actually use pumpkin a whole lot of ways, as you can see here).
Now, the idea of this is not new; in fact, we just saw a version of pumpkin gnocchi in Naturally Vegetarian, by Valentina Solfrini, or at least that’s where we think we saw it. However, we didn’t use anything from that recipe except the idea of having pumpkin gnocchi along with a sage butter sauce. We figured we could make it from the title alone.
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup squeezed dry pumpkin
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs unsalted butter
- 1/2 Tbs rubbed sage
- Grated Parmagiano-Reggiano for garnish
- Several fresh sage leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Place pumpkin on a clean work surface. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and use a bench knife to chop and fold in. Sprinkle with flour, and chop in lightly. Add egg and more flour as needed, chopping and folding into the pumpkin until a soft dough forms. Shape into a ball and move to one side.
- Dust work area with more flour, divide dough into four pieces, and, working with a piece at a time, roll out into a snake 1/2 inch thick and about 12 inches long. Cut into 3/4-inch-long pieces.
- Optionally, roll each piece into a small ball and roll over a gnocchi board or the back of a fork to make ridges. Transfer to a lined baking sheet.
- Once all the gnocchi have been formed, freeze for at least 30 minutes to make them easy to handle (You can transfer to a bag and keep frozen, cooking them directly from the freezer as needed.).
- Bring a large kettle of salted water to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in rubbed sage, along with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add gnocchi to the simmering water and continue to simmer and gently stir until the gnocchi float to the surface. Scoop out floating gnocchi, add to the sage butter, and fry until browned in spots.
- Add about 1/4 cup of the simmering water to the skillet and gently toss with gnocchi until the sauce thickens.
- Serve in warmed bowls, topped with Parmagiano-Reggiano
Ingredient discussion:
While you can make gnocchi from many vegetables, and it’s often made from potatoes, we think pumpkin is perfect for Halloween. To squeeze it dry, we placed our pumpkin in a large piece of muslin and squeezed out as much liquid as we could. You can use a clean, smooth (not a terry cloth) dish towel for the same purpose. We always recommend you buy good eggs, and, by that, we mean eggs that come from pastured hens. Unfortunately, you can’t tell at the supermarket, simply because the eggs are labeled with words that really don’t mean anything. After all, if eggs are labeled “natural,” that can mean as little as that they were laid by hens. We’re lucky to get ours from a local rancher who raises his hens on grass, and we know, because we’ve visited the hens. If you aren’t so lucky, try stopping by the farmers’ market and asking around. If someone raises hens properly, you can be sure they’d love to talk about it.
Procedure in detail:
Chop in spices. You don’t have to do this all on a clean counter as we did; you can use a bowl, but just remember to use a light hand and don’t work the dough too much once flour is added. We placed the pumpkin on the counter, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a bit of nutmeg, and used a bench knife to chop in the spices. We wanted to chop because pumpkin is stringy and we wanted to cut apart the strands. If you don’t have a bench knife, be creative; use a metal spatula, or even a butter knife.
Add flour and egg. Once the spices are in, dust the pumpkin with about 1/4 cup of flour and chop it in partly, lifting and folding to keep everything together. Add the egg, some more flour, and continue working and adding flour as needed until you have a soft dough. It’ll even be a little sticky or tacky, but it shouldn’t be wet. If it is, work in a bit more flour, but work gently, as you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour or your gnocchi will be rubbery. Ugh.
Shape. Shape the dough into a ball, dust your work surface with some more flour, and divide the ball into four pieces to make it easier to work with. Take each quarter of dough and roll it out into a long snake or rope about 1/2 inch in diameter and 12-14 inches long. Use your bench knife to cut it into pieces 3/4 of an inch long. You can transfer them to a lined baking sheet just like that, or, if you want to form ridges, take each piece, roll it into a ball, then gently roll over a gnocchi board, the tines of a fork, or something that has ridges.
Freeze. Once you’ve shaped all the gnocchi, place them in the freezer for at least a half hour to make them easier to handle. You can let them freeze completely, transfer them to a bag, and keep frozen for weeks. Once frozen, you’ll be able to cook the gnocchi directly from the freezer, making for convenient and easy meals.
Simmer gnocchi. You sort of have to do this step and the next step at the same time, as you want the butter melted and foamy when you add the gnocchi that’s finished simmering. Bring a large kettle of salted water to a simmer. Just a simmer, not a boil, because, if you try to boil gnocchi, it’ll disintegrate, and you’ll have a mess and not dinner. Add the gnocchi to the simmering water. They’ll sink right to the bottom, but give them a gentle stir with a slotted spoon and continue to simmer until they float to the surface. Once they float, skim them off with the slotted spoon and add them to the sage butter mixture that’s described next. Save the water for now.
Fry gnocchi. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When melted and foamy, add the rubbed sage and stir in. Continue to cook the sage and butter until it browns slightly. By then your gnocchi should be done — if not, lower the heat and keep the butter warm — and you can add it to the mixture. Let the gnocchi fry in place for a few minutes, then gently pry them up from the bottom of the pan. At all times, be gentle, or those gnocchi will break apart. Continue to fry the gnocchi until they’re browned in spots.
Make sauce. Once the gnocchi have browned here and there, add about 1/4 cup of water that was used to simmer the gnocchi, and bring it to a simmer, scraping up any little bits that have stuck to the pan. A few minutes of simmering and you should have a thickened sauce.
Serve. Divide the gnocchi between warmed bowls, drizzle the sauce over, and top with grated Parmagiano-Reggiano, and a few leaves of fresh sage, if using.
We were super happy with the way this turned out. The gnocchi were tender and light, the sage, of course, pairs perfectly with the pumpkin, and everything comes together with a bit of Parmesan cheese. We’re so glad that we still have some pumpkin in the freezer so we can make this again. Five stars.
