Pumpkin gnocchi is pillowy soft, sage and butter fried pumpkin flavored delicious pasta to serve on a chilly Fall night.
These pumpkin shaped gnocchi look very fancy on any dinner table and taste absolutely delicious. I have served it here on a bed of blanched kale leaves for the bright contrast in color, balance of flavor and texture.
JUMP TO
- What is gnocchi ?
- Points to remember when making gnocchi : Ingredients, kneading, shaping
- Ingredients list
- What to serve along with pumpkin gnocchi?
- Can gnocchi be made ahead of time?
- Steps by step pictures for making pumpkin gnocchi
- Other popular recipes on the blog
What is Gnocchi ?
Pumpkin gnocchi is a small dumpling made with pumpkin puree, steamed & mashed potato, all purpose flour and egg. Gnocchi just like pasta by itself has no flavor but holds sauces and absorbs flavors well that makes it a perfect addition to any salad. It is available ready-made in most grocery stores and helps in making dinner easily on a busy weeknight. Pumpkin puree adds color and ideal for Fall evenings.
Other gnocchi recipe that is very popular on the blog
Points to remember when making gnocchi :
Ingredients :
- Use russet potatoes - it is starchy, dry and fluffy inside when cooked , the exact texture we are looking for while making gnocchi.
- Steam the potatoes without toughing water and cut the potato immediately into halves after cooking. Let the steam escape all this this reduces moisture content . Subsequently adding less flour for kneading resulting in a lighter gnocchi.
- Mash the potatoes while they are hot - It should be completely mashed not pasted in a food processor. Use a ricer for best results as it will be aerated better.
- Gnocchi is a sticky dough but the lesser you knead it the lighter it will be.
- Do not add too much wet ingredients
- It will toughen the gnocchi and make it hard.
- Do not add too much all purpose flour as it can make the gnocchi very heavy and chewy.
Kneading and shaping :
- Work with light hands and knead the dough only until it comes together.
- I find that it's much easier to work with the dough as soon as it is kneaded or to shape it better. Rather than letting the flour sit for sometime and it becomes slightly harder to shape.
- The traditional gnocchi has ridges on the sides so the sauce gets absorbed more and it cooks evenly. Here the pumpkin it's slightly larger hence you might want to cook it for maybe a minute extra so the inside cooks evenly.
- Make sure to cook the gnocchi in boiling water just until the gnocchi rises to the top of the water.
Flavor :
- The pumpkin purée adds a golden color to the gnocchi but you actually don't get the pumpkin taste in the gnocchi. The rich butter and sage flavor stands out in this recipe.
- If you are looking to have some sauce in the sage butter mixture add some heavy cream. Towards the end along with the starch water ( water in which gnocchi is cooked). Allow this do thicken lightly slightly then add in the cooked gnocchi. But if you would like crispiness on the bottom of the gnocchi directly added to the butter instead of making a sauce.
- Gnocchi can turn gloppy if it has too much flour. Leave it on a paper towel too after removing form boiling water to be on the safe side.
Ingredients list :
SUBSTITUTIONS :
- To get a lighter gnocchi add some ricotta cheese to the mixture instead of all potato and flour mix and it will give you a much lighter and tender dumpling. But it could crack in the boiling water if not handled properly.
- Instead of gnocchi any cooked pasta of you choice could be used in this recipe.
- Go eggless but you may notice a slight difference in texture.
What to serve along with pumpkin gnocchi?
Gnocchi is a fun filled carb that can go along with protein or greens. Gnocchi is rich in butter and sage flavor.Anything that doesn't drown the flavor back/overpowering can be served with gnocchi. I have served with blanched kale leaves as sometimes kale can be difficult to chew by all the people. Slight blanching reduces the toughness of the leaves and softens it up. Blanching also gives the leaves a beautiful bright green color which is much more appetizing and tender looking.
Can gnocchi be made ahead of time?
- Freeze the freshly made gnocchi dumplings on a large plate or tray for an hour or two only. Once firm then remove from the refrigerator dust off excess flour and freeze in a ziplock bag unto 2 months.
- When preparing the frozen gnocchi add them in batches to boiling water so the temperature of water does not come down drastically. This affects the cooking time and process.
- But it's better to be butter fried just before serving to preserve of the flavors. It keeps the crispiness intact of the potatoes in it.
Steps by step pictures for making pumpkin gnocchi :
Other popular recipes on the blog :
Recipes you might like -
TORTELLINI WITH PICKLED ARTICHOKE
MUSHROOM AND LEEK BREAD PUDDING
GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND PEAS SALAD
Pumpkin gnocchi
Ingredients
- 200 gms Pumpkin puree 8 oz, (1/2 of 15 oz tin)
- 2 Potatoes
- 4 tbsp All purpose flour or as much as needed
- 1 Egg
- 10 leaves Sage
- 2 tbsp Butter unsalted
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 5 Kale leaves
- 4 sprigs Rosemary
Instructions
- Steam the potatoes until well cooked in the instant pot on the trivet. When it is still warm remove the peel well mash it well. to this add the pumpkin purée make a well in the middle add the egg beat it well mix everything together adding salt. Add all purpose flour 1 tablespoon at a time mix everything together just until the dough comes together. Add flour just to remove the stickiness and help in shaping.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts keep one covered while you work on the other. Make small balls and and with the help of a skewer make ridges on the ball to shape it like a pumpkin as seen in the video. Break the Rosemary sprigs to small pieces and insert to look like stems
- Bring a large pot of water to rolling boil gently add a small batch of the shaped pumpkins into the water. Stir gently with the ladle so it does not stick to the bottom. When the gnocchis rise to the surface give it 2 to 3 minutes to cook use a slotted spoon and remove it onto a paper towel.
- in the same water blanch the tough kale leaves to soften it a bit if you wish.
- In the heavy bottom pan melt the butter and add the sage leaves into it when that crisps up remove add the cooked gnocchi arranged on a single layer so the bottom gets a chance to crisp up. Do not disturb for a few minutes then turn each one gently give it a few minutes to get butter coated.
- Sprinkle some freshly crushed pepper and grated Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Over cooked gnocchi will loose its softness.
- If you think shaping gnocchi is too much of a hassle go with regular pillow shaped ones and follow rest of the recipe. It will still taste awesome.
- While putting the gnocchi into boiling water it can settle on the bottom and stick to the bottom of the pan. Remember to stir as soon as you put the gnocchi.
- For best results use a non stick pan while butter frying the gnocchis. Do not stir too much as this prevents crisping and browning.
Nutrition
Hope you get to try this most popular gnocchi recipe.
Meena
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