Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi With Sage Butter and Parmesan

Pumpkin gnocchi is easy to make and a great way to use leftover pumpkin. Fluffy, little dough pillows coated in browned sage butter and fried just enough to develop a thin crispy skin. Absolutely delicious.

This recipe is incredibly versatile and can be adapted to suit anyone with certain food issues.

- leave the egg out of the dough, it will still be great, you will just need less flour

- leave the potatoes out, replace them with more pumpkin

- omit the parmesan and butter for lactose-free version, use olive oil for frying instead

- experiment with tapioca, rice and potato flour for a gluten free meal

Shaped and uncooked gnocchi can be frozen and kept in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. To cook from frozen, simply place them in a pot of boiling water and cook until they start to float to the top (about 10-15 min).

4 generous portions or 6 starters:

• 600g pumpkin/squash puree
• 200g potato puree
• 1 egg
• 80-100g grated parmesan (about 1 cup)
• 1tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly ground pepper
• 200-400g regular flour

• 2-4tbs butter and fresh sage for frying
• handful of grated parmesan for sprinkling

While this recipe will work with either, I recommend using pumpkin over squash. Pumpkin gnocchi has more flavour, not to mention the colour is more vibrant.

You can use canned pumpkin puree or raw veggies. If your squash or pumpkin is raw you have to roast it beforehand. Slice in half and roast at 180C for about an hour or until it's soft enough for the fork to pass through the flesh with ease.

Once pumpkin is roasted, scoop the flesh out and mash it with a fork or use a blender.

This step is honestly just me being fussy, but I can't stand food with random bits in it. I like to pass purees through a sieve to get rid of any larger and fibrous bits.

I used leftover potatoes and roasted squash. Both were roughly mashed with a fork or a potato masher, but I still decided to give them a quick blitz in a food processor and pass that mixture through a sieve. I ended up with a smooth, lump free puree.

Mix pumpkin and potato puree with an egg and grated parmesan, add salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

I gave a vague amount of flour needed for this recipe, because there is no way of telling how much you will need. It all depends on the moisture content of your pumpkin/squash as well as the type of potato you are using. If you are making it egg-free, you will need less flour, if you are not using cheese, you might have to add a dash more. You get the gist,

Essentially, all you have to do is to start with 200g of flour and add more as you knead. The dough should be sticky. Use plenty of flour to dust your hands and your work surface.

Once the dough is kneaded, tip it onto a floured surface and shape it roughly into 1/2 inch thick disk. Use a flour dusted knife to cut the dough into smaller pieces - 1/2 inch to 1 inch big. You will have to dust them with flour too, cut sides will be sticky.

You can buy a special wooden board for gnocchi or use a fork to shape them. Simply pick one piece of dough and roll it over the board or the tines of a fork to create indentations.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add gnocchi and cook for about 2 minutes, until they all float to the top.

At the same time, melt a knob of butter and fresh sage over medium heat.

Once all gnocchi floated to the top, scoop them with a slotted spoon and transfer to the frying pan with butter and sage. Fry on medium heat for 2-4 min, give it a stir every now and then.

Sprinkle some parmesan and freshly ground pepper and serve.