These gnocchi are SO perfect as a side dish at thanksgiving. Of course it’s totally glutinous because you don’t NEED pasta on the table with all the other indulgent dishes for Thanksgiving, but I’ve always received such rave reviews for these. You can substitute butternut squash for the pumpkin and also use any other types of flour you like! I have tried it with hazelnut flour and it really worked.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Serves: 4
Total time: 1 hour
You’ll need: a marble pastry board or a clean, clear space to roll out your pasta dough
INGREDIENTS:
2.5 cups flour (plus more as needed when rolling out the gnocchi) you can use almond, hazelnut or any other alternative flour too!
1 can pumpkin puree
½ cup whole milk ricotta (more to taste)
⅓ cup grated Parmesan
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons salted butter
2 teaspoons coarse salt
¼ cup fresh sage, minced
½ teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon nutmeg
cracked black pepper
optional: 2 links italian sausage, or about a pound
Let’s do it!
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In a stand mixer or by hand, mix the pumpkin, Parmesan, egg yolk, salt and nutmeg.
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Stir in the flour a ½ cup at a time, until dough begins to come together. It shouldn’t be sticky so continue to add it until the dough is light and bouncy to the touch.
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Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 - 3 minutes until dough is smooth and soft and bounces back when you stretch it.
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Cut dough into 6 even pieces. Roll each piece into a rope approximately 1 inch thick.
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Cut gnocchi out of the rope by cutting 1 - 2 inch long pieces. You can finish the gnocchi by pressing a fork gently into each piece to create a subtle design, but this step is entirely optional.
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
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While the water is coming up to temperature, if you are including the sausage in the recipe, remove the sausage from the casing and saute it over medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes until fully browned.
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Drop gnocchi into boiling water and and cook until they begin to float (1 - 2 minutes).
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Add butter and sage to the pan with sausage (or just start a pan with butter and sage if you're skipping the sausage) and continue to heat over medium. Add cracked black pepper to the butter pan to taste.
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Use a slotted spoon to transfer gnocchi from pot to the saute pan with the sausage, butter and sage. Cook gnocchi for 1 - 2 minutes on each side until lightly seared.
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Serve gnocchi with the ground sausage, a dollop of ricotta and fresh sage.