Pumpkins, inside and out...

As I said earlier, this week I decided to attempt gnocchi. I've never eaten it before, which seems odd, and I've obviously never made it. Traditionally (I believe!) gnocchi is made with potato, but I was planning to carve my first jack-o-lantern this weekend as well (it's Halloween today) so I thought I'd try pumpkin gnocchi instead - very autumnal, no? In searching for an appropriate (read: easy) recipe, I also came across one for "15 Minute Ricotta Gnocchi" which sounded too good to be true, so I made two types!

But first, meet Henry, my pumpkin! He wasn't easy to find, but was worth the hunt as he's a smooth-skinned, hollow, rotund specimen - perfect for carving (and clearly quite the wise-cracking pumpkin...).


Knives sharpened, band-aids at the ready, I began to hack into his orangey flesh...


And the finished Henry...I'm pretty happy with him actually! It was fun, if slightly sticky, work and I think he'll look very spooky tonight once it gets dark! Ooooh....


Anyway, the insides of Henry (along with some other squash, because most of Henry is actually still intact...though I do see a large amount of pumpkin soup in our future!) were roasted for the gnocchi, then mashed and mixed with the egg, flour and seasonings, and that's really it. The ricotta gnocchi did live up to its 15 min fame, although I have to admit that sadly, neither variety was met with rapturous applause. Andrew didn't really like either version (owing to the texture which he claimed was 'slimy'. Flattering...) and if I'm completely honest, while I didn't dislike it, it wasn't something that I'd go out of my way to eat again. Of course, having never eaten gnocchi at a restaurant, I've got no point of comparison, so I don't really know what it should be like! The instructions said not to add too much flour since you wanted to achieve a 'velvety' texture. I'm pretty sure that mine were velvety - I definitely didn't add too much flour - but I just wasn't inspired. Sad...I had such high hopes for this week's recipes! Ah well. Worth a shot anyway, since you never know when you're going to discover your new favourite food! And, I do think that if you are a gnocchi fan, then these recipes will probably appeal. They are pretty easy and certainly quick. And the flavours of the pumpkin one particularly were wonderfully autumnal.


Ricotta Gnocchi (recipe from Delicious:Days)

250g ricotta
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp sea salt
30g grated parmesan
50-70g plain flour
(I also added about 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic chives)

In a bowl, beat the ricotta, egg yolk, salt, parmesan and herbs (if using) together. Add the flour and mix to just combined. I used the full amount of flour and it was still very sticky. THe original recipe said you could add more flour if you wanted, but the more you add, the heavier the gnocchi will be. Apparently heavy gnocchi are not desirable.
Mixture will be very sticky, so your hands are going to get a bit messy from now on.
Flour a chopping board thoroughly, then blob a good dessert-spoonful of the mix onto the board. Flour your hands and then roll/schmoosh the dough into a finger-width thick sausage. Cut into wee pieces about 1.5-2cm long and place each onto a well floured surface.

To cook: put wee pillows of gnocchi into boiling, salted water and cook until they float. This will take about 2-4mins. Serve with simple tomato sauce, and some parmesan.



Halloween Gnocchi

450g cooked, mashed/pureed pumpkin (I roasted mine first and then mashed since it intensifies the pumpkiny flavour)
sea salt to taste
1 egg yolk
100g plain flour
freshy ground nutmeg

Basically the same instructions as above, except you mix the egg, pumpkin puree, salt and nutmeg, before adding the flour. Roll out then cook as described above.

I served this with crispy prosciutto, roasted pinenuts and crisp sage with the scented olive oil (that the sage had cooked in) drizzled over. I definitely liked this gnocchi version better than the first - very rich and autumnal. If you're vegetarian, leave off the prosciutto! :-)