My first attempt at gnocchi a couple of months ago was a ricotta gnocchi, light and refreshing, perfect for summer.  I decided to create something a bit heartier.  Potato seemed a bit too ordinary so I went with pumpkin.  Also with pumpkin I can use canned.  Potatoes I’d have to cook, mash, and let cool.  It seemed like too much work just to get an ingredient ready for a recipe.

My favorite part was mixing the dough with my hands.  I’m not sure how I was supposed to make a well big enough to fit 15 oz of canned pumpkin but the pumpkin consistency was thick enough that it didn’t run out.

Freshly grated parmesan cheese on top of the pumpkin.  Working from the outer edges, I incorporated the flour into the pumpkin.

After combining the dough together and kneading it I was a little worried about it being all white.

After 5 minutes of kneading the pumpkin absorbed all the flour and the dough was bright orange pumpkin  color.

I quartered the dough and with each section I rolled out a log about 1 inch in diameter.  Required a light dusting of flour on the board but not too much.  The dough was easy to work with.

Gnocchi taking shape.  They remind me of pizza pockets.  I gently molded them into more cylindrical shapes and placed them on a sheet pan.

Lined them up and put them in the freezer to set until I was ready to cook.

Mushroom cream sauce with sage and pumpkin.   When I researched recipes, the typical sauce was a brown butter sauce, involving melting a stick of butter in a pan, adding sage, and tossing the gnocchi in it.  Something about actually coating the gnocchi in butter doesn’t sit well with me.  It’s one of those things where I’d prefer to eat it and not know how it was made.   I chose this mushroom cream sauce because I wanted it to be substantial enough to be an entree and also not just consist of butter.

Pumpkin gnocchi ready to be covered in sauce.

Finished dish sprinkled with a little bit more Parmesan.

Pumpkin Gnocchi
from marthastewart.com

my recipe notes:

  • instead of actual pumpkin I used a 15 oz. can of 100% pure canned pumpkin.  Make sure it is pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, unless you want it to taste like pumpkin pie.
  • instead of “00″ flour I just used all purpose flour.  I’m not too familiar with “00″ flour, but from what I’ve read, it is supposed to make the dough not as heavy.  The result was a little dense but I still liked the taste and flavor.

I haven’t had much success with Martha’s recipes but this one was great.