November 14th
2008
Some of my favorite dishes have - what I'd like to call - an increased raised eyebrow factor. Take homemade pasta or gnocchi for instance, mentioning these may likely give you the one or other odd look and make people wonder: She can't be that crazy, making all pasta or gnocchi herself, no??
I can see Oliver nodding here, but no, I'm not. Well, it's not exactly like that, homemade pasta still is a rather infrequent companion at our table, reserved for special occasions or dear guests. However, homemade gnocchi are a whole different story. Huge difference. Because I love potatoes so much, I love (love love!) these little bite-sized pillows, always have, always will!
Making gnocchi is, once you get the hang of it, dead easy. You'll quickly notice that adding more flour certainly improves the workability of the dough, but consequently makes the gnocchi too dense and firm; can you say rubber ball? I have become so hooked on these little Italian dumplings with the velvet-like texture, that I have to have them every other week. Last week my addiction kicked in at 9.30 pm... and a good hour later I sat in front of a plate of steaming hot gnocchi with browned pine nut butter. I was the happiest person in Munich that night, without a doubt.
And then there is Oliver. He likes gnocchi, he really does. But I guess I must have been pushing it a bit too far, putting his relationship with them in jeopardy. While I've heard tales of other boyfriends kissing their girlfriends' feet for having a simple homemade meal, he just recently started to act allergic to the term homemade gnocchi. So I had to get creative...
Who said, that gnocchi have to consist of potatoes only? Look around, cookbooks and online recipe sources not only offer countless variations (recipes in English/recipes in German) with herbs and such, even for when you crave a potato-less alternative, it's all there. The options are endless.
Why not try a seasonal inspired variation? Since pumpkins are crowding my grocery's shelves and my spoiled boyfriend loves them as well, I sniffed my chance for more gnocchi. This time around without potatoes but with a gorgeous, bright orange hue. They were such a big hit, I've prepared them the third time in two weeks... and no not again!s to be heard so far. Watch out potato gnocchi, here's some serious competition sneaking up ;)
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Wash the pumpkin and pad dry. Cut it in halves using your largest knife and discard the stem and seeds. I use my GDS (grapefruit dedicated spoon) with serrated edges (like these), which make it relatively easy to remove all fibers and seeds. Cut into finger-thick slices and scatter on a parchment lined baking tray. Sprinkle with sea salt and roast in the oven (middle) for about 30 minutes or until soft.
Use a potato ricer to mash the hot pumpkin. If you used a Hokkaido, the skin has become soft and can be blended with the puree. Discard bigger skin pieces which resist the shredding process. Let steam off for about 15 minutes.
Add the egg yolk and flour, then season the puree to taste with salt and freshly ground nutmeg. Blend quickly using a fork, the dough will still look quite sticky. Of course you can add more flour at this point, but keep in mind, that the more flour you use, the denser these little dumplings become in the end. And you want them to be light & fluffy, with a velvet-like texture!
Forming these gnocchi is the tricky step, this is the technique that works best for me: I generously flour a wooden board as well as my hands and take a big tablespoon of the dough in my hands, making sure it is covered in flour. Then I carefully form this piece into a finger-thick roll and cut it into little pillows (stick the knife's blade into the flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough). Then place each gnoccho on a floured parchment paper lined baking tray and quickly continue with the next steps - or they will stick to the paper anyway.
Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt and reduce heat until the water bubbles lightly. Add the gnocchi - stir once, so they don't stick to the bottom - and let cook until they start floating on top. Depending on their size this may take 4 to 6 minutes. Take out with a skimmer, because pouring them through a pasta strainer could easily damage these fragile gnocchi.
Preparing the browned sage butter: Wash and pat dry the fresh sage leaves, then stack and cut them into thin chiffonade. Meanwhile melt the butter in a pan over low to medium heat, add the sage chiffonade and sauté until the sage has become crisp and the butter has gained a golden brown hue and nutty flavor (but don't let it burn!). Spoon over the gnocchi and add some freshly ground black pepper, grated parmesan and - optional - roasted and chopped pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin gnocchi with browned sage butter
Recipe source: own creation, inspired by many others
Prep time: ~1-1,5 hour
Ingredients (for 2):
1 smaller Hokkaido pumpkin (~450g puree)
sea salt
1 large eggyolk
100 g all-purpose flour (more as needed), extra for dusting the board
freshly ground nutmeg
50-75 g butter
15-20 mid-sized sage leaves
freshly ground black pepper
parmesan, freshly grated
optional: roasted and coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds
How funny... just had pumkin gnocchi for the first time in my life today (but not homemade, bought them at an organic supermarket)! Yours look even better than the ones I had, so I guess I should give them a try.... Let's see how many eyebrows I will raise!
this is one of my favorite winter recipes! And it's just as easy as anything else.
I've been reading your truly GORGEOUS blog for a couple of years now, but have never had the time/courage to comment, but I feel I must now!
These are absolutely beautiful! I think I have to make this for dinner tonight - thank you so much for the inspiration. Your beautiful photos, writing and blog always cheer me up a dreary day!
This is just so pretty and tasty! I love potato gnocci. But I would love to try the pumpkin version! Thanks for the recipe
That sounds like a beautiful recipe. I will definitely have to give this a try. Now I understand the fuel behind Oliver's awesome code :)
I was wondering, is it possible to steam the pumpkin slices instead of baking them. I'm drooling (in my mind) over the pictures, but my oven is broken. Thanks for the recipe, did I tell you how much I Love YOU? And so seasonal, love it.
It's hard to hear no, not again, when you're cooking! I usually just raise my eyebrow and say...you're welcome to cook for us...forever :) and that usually stops the argument. My husband actually needs to eat pesto at least once a week - I am usually the one that says...no, not again! :)
I've tried pumpkin gnocchi a long time ago, weren't half as lovely as yours! Going to try it after your recipe again!
Es klingt genau so, als wollte ich das am Sonntag ausprobieren - richtig lecker -. Aber der "Print this recipe!"-button funktioniert nicht :(. I'll try again later;). LG Beate
Es macht VIEL mehr Spass, deinen blog zu lesen als zu arbeiten....
These look lush! I much prefer them to regular gnocchi, and all that butter and sage are a real remedy to the cold.
I have made a similar pumpkin gnocchi before and it was delicious - however I had not thought of the sage and butter sauce which sounds like the perfect accompaniment.
I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, I really want to print this out but the print link isn't working!
These look amazing, I LOVE gnocchi!
EDIT Nicky: Thanks for the heads up, it's working again now :)
This recipe reminds me of my grandmother making fresh gnocchi in her warm cozy kitchen. Thank you for sharing your pictures and for inspiring me to make my own!
I am so going to make these over the weekend! They look adorable, love your pictures.
This looks fantastic and it looks like it's easy enough that even I can do it!! Love the pictures, btw!
This looks absolutely amazing. I bought some pumpkin gnocci at an Itallian grocery last year and didn't love it. But maybe I just need to make my own version. And maybe it just needed that delicious browned sage butter!
Hi, I made the gnocchi yesterday and they were delicious. And, John, yes it works if you steam the pumpkin. My oven was "busy" so I steamed the pumpkin in the pressure cooker. Maybe you need a little more flour this way since the pumpkin doesn't dry up while in the hot oven. Worked out just fine! Mind you - you have to steam the pumpkin, not cook it in water.
Bookmarked! This will be my first attempt to make gnocchi, but I simply cannot resist your pictures. Beau-ti-ful!!!
Just one word:
superoutstanding
Ich habe die Gnocci am Samstag gemacht. Sie sind einsame Spitze. Leider ist die Form bei mir noch nicht so schön, wie auf den Bildern, aber der Geschmack ist traumhaft gewesen. Es war viel Arbeit, aber der Mühen wert.
Wonderful photos, as always! I especially love the one with the sage leaves. The gnocchi look stunning!
I still haven't perfected... er, successfully executed... gnocchi. I'm going to keep trying though. And how much does this dish make me glad it's fall?! Beautiful.
How cute! Love the orange color!
I used butternut squash instead of potato but holy awesomeness. Could use a part two follow up on shaping, however.
this dish looks soooo yummy! Perfect for this time of the year. I have to admit I don't get around to making fresh pasta very often, but gnocchi are so much easier and faster, there's simply no excuse.
Wow, I believe the gnocchi taste absolutely gorgeous, the pictures are stunning - but to try them myself, the recipe sounds a bit ... stressful ; )
and quickly continue with the next steps
If I have to work quick, I panic and everything goes wrong, so I'll avoid the disaster and keep baking your wonderful cookies!
Hey,
I would like to subscribe to your blog but can only find how to subscribe to comment...
How can I subscribe to the Blog. I'll continue looking. But do tell me if you can.
Thanks!
I made these tonight, and they were delicious! I also need another go at the shaping...
Your gnocchi look perfect, I love sage with pumpkin.
I find it hard to believe how anyone could ever get fed up with homemade pasta... I've never given it a try myself yet, but am definitely planning to. I love the aspect of being able to add your own ingredients and spices... Your pumpkin gnocci sound (and look) absolutely delicious - especially with the touch of nutmeg!
I just made the gnocci and my problem was, that I steamed the pumpkin, so the dough was way to moist, I think the trick is the drying in the oven. the turned out more like "malfatti" instead of "gnocci". I think I inherited that from my mom ;), she can´t prepare gnocci too. but they tasted really nice.
delicius recipe thank you!!!!
I have been wanting to make gnocci for a long time and I think this recipe just might be the final drop of inspiration! Thanks!
[...] einfach Spinatnocken zu kochen. Aber was tun sprach Zeus? Ich habe erst vor ein paar Tagen auf delicious:days einen Eintrag gelesen, in dem sie Gnocchi aus Kürbis statt Kartoffeln gemacht haben. Und da ich [...]
I am really disappointed... this is the second recipe that I have tried from your lovely site, both failed massively. I am always keen on the healthy site of living so I replaced the flour with rye flour and the result was horrible... I should have just eaten the roasted pumpkin instead.
EDIT Nicky: Dear Manu, I'm sorry that your approach didn't work out as planed, but rye flour may not be a good substitution for all-purpose flour in this recipe, as it is low in gluten and creates denser results. I received delighted feedback from readers who didn't alter the recipe, therefor I presume the rye flour may have been the problem.
Last week I prepared the Gnocchi in your book, which turned out not as pretty as yours, but delicious! Will have to try these, too!
Die Worte Kürbis und Gnocchi haben mein Hungergefühl gerade ins Unermessliche steigen lassen. Und die Fotos lassen mich dann endgültig kapitulieren. HUNGER!!!
They did not turn out light and fluffy but heady and sticky :( The taste was great but we could not eat them because it felt like eating raw dough.
What could have been wrong?!
I think that was my last try on gnocchi :(
Extrem lecker Nicky.
Hatte grade einen Teller vor mir stehen.
Würde dieser ******teig nicht so schrecklich kleben, ich kochte sie jeden Tag. ;)
What a wonderful idea to combine pumpkin and gnocchi like that!!!
just made them and they turned out wonderfully! thank you - again - for another great recipe.
now, what am I going to do with the left-over gnocchi still sitting on my parchment? Put them in the fridge and cook them tomorrow?
EDIT Nicky: Dear Maike, I usually cook all of the prepared Gnocchi, then I remove the leftovers with a skimmer and keep them in a little bowl in the fridge until the next day. You just need to drop them into hot water for a few minutes, and you are good to go for another yummy meal. Keeping them uncooked in the fridge may cause the dough to become even more sticky - just a wild guess, I never actually tried it with this dough.
Oh my gosh, thanks for this recipe! This thanksgiving is the first one with me and my fiance's parents so I must impress!
Besides wearing a chic dress and the gorgeous diamond necklace that my fiance bought me for my birthday, I want to make a stunning home cooked dish.
The pumpkin gnocchi is perfect and by the end of the night everybody will be calling me Top Chef!
These gnocchi look really good... I have also make pumpkin gnocchi this month. I just love gnocchi. The recipe I used is very similar to yours, next time I want to try potatoes-pumpkin gnocchi.
Ciao.
Orchidea
This is a really nice recipe.
Homemade pumpkin gnocchi - life doesn't get any better than that!
sounds wonderful! I'd take this use of pumpkin over pie any day!
I made them yesterday. my first homemade gnocchi, actually my first homemade pasta ever (i am an eyebrow raiser there normally)
what can i say? though i was really scared that they might turn out either too mushy or too chewy, they were just wonderfully. had to add more flour though, but could have been due to the fact that I might have had more purree as well...
thanks for sharing this recipe (it was the first one of yours I dared to cook!), we had such a lovely dinner. a good red wine, some salad with walnuts and these gnocchi. absolutely delicious! and worth the patient forming work...
oh! and the leftovers just fried in butter with sage were even better today:) as always...
Is the pumpkin quantity about 1 pound and the flour about 1 cup? I would like to try this recipe but I need the oz/cup conversion from grams.
Thank you.
...here in Italy the recipe for gnocchi is different from family to family, and each village has its little secrets to improve this dish.
I want to make a small gift and tell you a little secret of my small town:
once you had cutted the gnocchi, with a fork created small grooves on the surface (as seen in this photo ).
The sauce and condiments -especially if tomato sauce or ragù- better attack the surface of the pasta and the taste becomes more "robust"!
Ciao, greetings from Italy! ^ ^
(and sorry 4 my bad english)
These look fantastic! Finally, something else I can make with all my leftover pumpkin puree - thanks!
These are gorgeous! Much more successful than my last attempt at pumpkin gnocchi which were incredibly sticky to work, and then became leaden once boiled. Too much flour, I know, but they were just impossible to work!
delicious! i had my mum and sister over for dinner and made these as a starter and they loved them. the good thing is that theres plenty left for tomorrow :-). happy 4. Advent.
Wooohooo! I made these a week ago and they were fantastic! The whole shaping process failed miserably and I ended up just making little balls from the dough, but the end result disappeared in no time. Thanks!
Happy Holidays!
Ever since I visited "delicious days" for the first time in october I really fell in love! The beautiful pictures and your nice writing made me read evey article, starting with the first entry.
As my friend and I are responsible for christmas menue for our family, we gave the pumpkin gnocchi a go as side dish for our vension with pistachios-cardamom-crust! Tasted wonderful - even though I put in way too much flour and they became a litte sticky. I promise to take your advice next time... :-) Thanks and Happy New Year!
This was my first try with homemade gnocchi and I can't believe how good they were! Maybe not as beautiful as yours, but my family loved them. Thanks for this recipe, will have to make it over and over again.
I made my own gnocchi once, about ten years ago - it was such a disaster I never tried it again! But reading your post and seeing everyone's comments (many successful attempts, I see!) I'm finally feeling insprired to try again...
How well I know that raised eyebrow... until people come over for dinner and try the momemade pasta!
I tried your recipe over the weekend and used butternut squash. Labour intensive and a quite sticky dough, but delicious results! Thank you for sharing your tip to not add too much flour, I think it is important not to.
Just yesterday I tried again and the gnocchi had a perfect texture! As the dough seemed too juicy to form a roll by hand I used a piping bag. That did the trick for me: quick and easy! And really delicious!!!
We enjoyed this wonderful meal on a rainy night in Amsterdam-- heel lekker, heel gezelig! Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe!
So pretty! My hubby and I have made the sweet potato version of these together...they're really fun! We rolled ours off the back of the fork tines which gave them a pretty look and kind of curled them over. We added a bit of pure maple syrup to our brown sage butter...yum!
A perfect first dish for Thanksgiving dinner...but only in an Italian household. We're the only ones who would even entertain the idea of pasta before turkey! Perfect as a stand-alone dish.