Pumpkin Gnocchi

At my place, the fast talking and wildly gesturing Italians always win the European Dumpling of the Year contest with their chubby little gnocchi. Traditional dough is made with potato, but the pumpkin is a sweet and colourful replacement. Serving is a matter of personal taste and you can just fold the gnocchi through sage leaves fried on butter. Or, cook some garlic, smoked bacon and green peas with lots of chopped fresh dill, then toss in the gnocchi. Whichever way you serve them, the meal is guaranteed to finish with a happy pat on a full tummy.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

1 cup of cooked and puréed pumpkin or squash

1 large egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1-2 teaspoons of dried oregano

2-3 cups plain flour

To make your own pumpkin purée, use a strong knife to cut a small pumpkin (or butter squash) in half. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Cut the pumpkin in pieces, cut off the skin. Fill the pan with water just to cover the pumpkin cubes and boil them until tender (it doesn’t take long to cook 5-10 min tops), drain well and mash into a fine and silky smooth purée.

Note: The amount of flour you need to make the dough will vary depending on how moist the pumpkin or squash is after cooking. For more intense pumpkin taste make sure the cooked pumpkin in drained really well. Also, do not overcook it! Although it is tough to cut, it takes a lot less time to boil than the potatoes.

Method:

1. Mix the pumpkin puree, egg, cheese and oregano in a large bowl. First add only 2 cups of the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. You can try and work it with your hands but the dough will, and should be, very sticky, almost impossible to work. But don’t despair. Add another half or a full cup of flour and mix well to get a soft dough.  The dough will still be quite sticky, but manageable enough to shape into a large log. It shouldn’t require more than 3 cups of flour. Cover the dough with a damp cloth (the dough is not suitable to be left out for too long or refrigerate overnight).
2. Bring a large pan of water to a boil, and then add a good spoonful of salt to it, so it tastes as salty as the sea.
3. To make the gnocchi, spread some flour on a large work surface, but have more flour at hand. Cut the dough into 4 or 3 small log pieces.  Roll each log piece, gently with your palms, into a 3-4 cm thick sausage. Then cut them into 3-4 cm long gnocchi.
4. Dust the gnocchi with some flour.  Hold a grater over the pan. By gently pressing and rolling each gnocchi over the grater, let them drop into the boiling water. This will create the ridges for the sauce to hold onto. This step is not really compulsory as it doesn’t improve the taste.
5. Cook the gnocchi until they float, then remove them with a slotted spoon. Lay each batch in a cold dish and toss with a drop or two of olive oil so they don't stick together.