Sweet, savoury, silky, fluffy, crispy little pillows, these gnocchi have it all! Combined with brown butter crispy sage, we all know this is a match made in heaven! It doesn’t take a huge amount of time to make but in my opinion definitely a weekend dish. But!… You can also just make a big batch of the gnocchi and freeze them and then they make a great easy and quick weeknight dinner. So winners all around! I added a dollop of ricotta over the gnocchi when serving but I forgot to photograph it 😉
I also sautéed some cantharel mushrooms with kale and garlic, but a simple side salad would be perfect too!
Pumpkin and kale harvested at @plukcsafruittuin
Recipe inspired by @recipe_tin
Pumpkin & Ricotta Gnocchi with Brown Butter Crispy Sage
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- Gnocchi
- 300 g fresh pumpkin, see notes
- 1/2 cup soft ricotta
- 1 1/4 cup plain flour + more for dusting
- 50 g parmesan cheese , finely grated
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Black pepper
- Sage Brown Butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 50g unsalted butter
- 20 fresh sage leaves, left whole
- To serve:
- Salt & Black pepper
- Parmesan
- Ricotta (if you have any left after just needing 1/2 cup for the gnocchi)
Instructions
Roast your pumpkin (1 hour incl cooling) - also great to prep ahead!
Preheat the oven (I did it in my airfryer) to 180°C.
Halve the pumpkin and deseed 1 half, you need about 300-400 g pumpkin once deseeded.
Place the whole piece on a baking tray, season with pepper and salt. Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let cool completely (± 15 minutes) and scoop out the flesh into a fine mesh sieve.
Using a wooden spoon or spatula press the pumpkin through so you're left with a smooth purée (you need 1/2 cup doe the recipe, you might have some left over, save this for in a soup or so).
Making the gnocchi (20 minutes)
In a large bowl add 1/2 cup of the pumpkin purée and the rest of the gnocchi ingredients.
Mix well with a wooden spoon. It will be a soft and slightly sticky dough which forms a ball and comes away from the sides of the bowl. If it's too sticky add some some more flour, but as little as possible!
Dust a work surface with flour, place the dough on top and sprinkle the top with some extra flour. Shape it into a log shape.
Cut into 6 pieces and roll int 1.5 cm thick ropes. Using a knife or dough cutter cut the rope into little squares. You can leave them like this or press down lightly with a fork on the cut side of the gnocchi.
At this point the gnocchi are ready to cook! If making ahead of time it's best to freeze them, see notes.
Cooking (10 minutes)
Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
Tip the gnocchi into the water and cook for 1 minute until they rise to the surface. Drain and set aside.
Melt ± 1 tsp butter plus the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the gnocchi and pan fry, shaking them until the gnocchi is just starting to brown (± 2 minutes).
Add the remaining butter, once it melts and foams, add the sage leaves. Stir and cook for another 2.5 minutes or until the gnocchi is golden, the butter is slightly browned and the sage crisp.
Season well with pepper and salt, garnish with freshly grated parmesan and serve straight away. If you have any ricotta left dollop a few spoonfuls over the gnocchi, works great together!
Notes
- You can also use store bought pumpkin purée but this is not readily available in The Netherlands. So roasting is the next best option. Boiling works too but it makes the pumpkin purée quite wet.
- Best is to roast the pumpkin, this way any excess moisture evaporates. The less moisture the less flour you need which results in fluffier gnocchi! You need half of a small pumpkin for this, ±300 g once deseeded. No need to peel, you'll scoop out the flesh after roasting.
- Cooked gnocchi does not keep well, they become a bit sticky and gloopy when refrigerated. But if you have no other choice you still can: add a dusting of flour before refrigerating for up to 2 days. Freezing is the best option, they taste like they've been made fresh! Spread out in single layers with paper in between in an airtight container, once frozen you can transfer into ziplock bags for easier storage. Frozen gnocchi can be cooked from frozen.
