Pumpkin gnocchi are a specialty of Lombardy – particularly around Mantua. They’re made with pumpkin, flour and semolina and are usually served with a classic sauce of melted butter and sage leaves. This pasta dish is ideal to warm chilly autumn evenings. It’s very easy to prepare and so fun to shape that the kids often join in and help. Here’s the basic recipe followed by the tastiest variations.
The classic version
Ingredients for 4 people: 14 ounces of pumpkin (approximately 3 1/2 cups, but this will depend on how small it’s chopped), 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 cup durum wheat semolina, 7 tablespoons butter, oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and parmesan cheese.
Start by cutting the peeled, seeded pumpkin flesh into cubes, then bake at 350 °F for half an hour or so, until softened. Once they have cooled, purée the cubes and add the flour, salt, pepper and semolina to the mixture. Work the dough with your hands until it becomes perfectly manageable. Form it into a long snake, from which you will cut the gnocchi. Texture the gnocchi with the tines of a fork so the sauce adheres to them. Cook the dumplings in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes, then melt the butter and cheese with the sage and serve.
Pumpkin-potato gnocchi
Gnocchi made from pumpkin and potatoes are one of the best-known variations on the theme. Start by slicing 14 ounces of peeled, seeded pumpkin, which will be baked at 350 °F for about 20 minutes, or until softened. While the pumpkin is baking, peel 1 1/3 cup of potatoes and cook them for 20 minutes in salted water. Run both ingredients through a food mill together and mix with 1 egg, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, 1 cup of flour and a little salt. Mix and then knead everything together until uniformly combined. Boil some salted water in a pot and cut the dough into small ropes, cut the gnocchi to about the size of hazelnuts, and texture them with a fork. After boiling them briefly, serve the pumpkin and potato gnocchi with a simple sauce of melted butter and fresh sage. And grated parmesan cheese, of course.
Pumpkin and ricotta gnocchi
Making delicately flavored, delicious pumpkin and ricotta gnocchi is quite easy. As with the other recipes, slice at least 12 ounces of pumpkin flesh and bake it at 350 °F for half an hour. Then combine in a food processor 1 scant cup of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of flour, a dash each of salt, pepper and grated nutmeg and a little grated parmesan cheese. Turn this mixture out onto a floured work surface and create a hollow in the center. When the pumpkin has cooled enough to purée it, put the purée in the hollow. Add 1 egg and mix everything together, then knead until it’s fairly solid but still easy to shape. Using your hands and a fork, create small gnocchi from the dough and cook them in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Enjoy the gnocchi with melted butter, fresh sage and optionally a little crisp-fried pancetta or bacon.
Gluten-free gnocchi
Pumpkin gnocchi can certainly be made to suit diners who have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. For the gluten-free version, all you need is 14 ounces pumpkin flesh, 1 2/3 cups rice flour and a little grated nutmeg, salt and oil. Cut the pumpkin flesh into chunks and bake them at 350 °F for 15 minutes, then purée them. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to the purée and mix well with the flour, then make the gnocchi as usual, rolling the dough into ropes with your hands, texturing the ropes with a fork, then cutting the gnocchi. Cook them for a few minutes in salted boiling water and you’re there. These can be served with melted butter and fresh sage, or a tomato sauce.