Last night I made a super hit for our family—pumpkin gnocchi! I saw a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi in Chloe’s Kitchen and I thought it sounded tasty, and thought I could adapt it for fall flavors and use up some of my pumpkin puree. I’ve grown to like gnocchi—for those of you who haven’t had it before, it is a little like a cross between pasta and a dumpling, traditionally made with potato.
I promise you this was not staged—he grabbed the book right out of my hands. I think I have a future chef on my hands!
Irving was a little on the fence when I told him about my dinner plans—pumpkin gnocchi tossed with apples, raisins, and shallots. He’s not a fan of anything sweet for dinner, and really considers fruit to be dessert. We almost bailed and got take out, but he told me to just go ahead since we had all of the ingredients. So glad I did—we all loved it, especially Irving who enjoyed two helpings, and it will be a regular dish in our rotation now!
Pumpkin Gnocchi, adapted from Chloe’s Kitchen
20 oz. pumpkin puree (I know this is an irregular size—it was what I had on hand. If you get canned pumpkin you can adjust the amount of flour until you have the correct consistency)
2-3 c flour
2 tsp salt
½ tsp dried sage
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp black pepper
olive oil
2 shallots (1/2 – ¾ c, sliced)
1 medium apple, sliced
½ c dried raisins or dried cranberries
Put large pot of water on stove and bring to boil.
Meanwhile, mix spices and herbs with pumpkin puree in large bowl. Mix well. Begin to add flour, half cup at a time, and mix. The less flour you add, the lighter the gnocchi will be. However, the more flour you add, the easier it is to work with the dough. I added 2 ½ c of flour to my 20 oz. of pumpkin. It would be been good to add just a tiny bit less, but they were still really yummy!
Once the dough has come together, turn it out onto a clean, floured surface and knead it a bit more. Divide dough into 6 balls, and roll each one into a log, adding flour to your hands and surface as kneaded (your hands will be messy!). Slice each log into 1 inch pieces with a sharp knife dipped in flour.
Set a large sauté pan (large enough to hold all gnocchi, apples, shallots, and raisins) on the stove and begin to heat a bit of olive oil. Add shallots and cook on medium heat.
Heavily salt water. Begin to add gnocchi into water, about 20 at a time. They will sink to the bottom. Let cook about 4 minutes and some should start to pop to the top. Let them cook 30 seconds more. I had to give my pot a stir to shake some of the gnocchi loose from the bottom. Using a slotted spoon, strain out gnocchi and place directly into olive oil and shallots. Repeat until all gnocchi are cooked.
I like my gnocchi crisped up a little bit so I let them pan fry in the olive oil. Once most of the gnocchi are in the pan add the apples and raisins. Continue to cook until desired crispiness. Remove from heat, plate, and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!
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