1.5 hours | serves 4
In a world where pasta takes on whimsical forms, the pumpkin-shaped pumpkin gnocchi reigns supreme, like a Halloween party on a plate! Imagine little orange orbs of joy, each one a tiny gourd ready to roll into your heart (and mouth). Just be careful not to confuse them with your decorative pumpkins; your dinner guests might be in for a surprise when they try to carve their plates! As they simmer in the pot, they’ll puff up like little Halloween balloons, and when you serve them with a creamy sage butter sauce, it’s like a spooky culinary celebration where the only thing haunting you will be the delicious flavor lingering long after the last bite!
What you need to do before you begin
00 Flour: Choosing 00 flour over all-purpose flour can make a significant difference, especially in certain culinary applications like pasta making and pizza dough. 00 flour is milled to a finer texture than all-purpose flour, which results in a smoother, silkier dough. This fine grind allows for a more delicate mouthfeel in the finished product, which is particularly desirable for pasta and pizza.
Coconut Cream: In this dish I use coconut cream for my creamy sage butter sauce, you can switch out for regular cream. This is simply just a preference.
Step 1: DOUGH BOY!
Let’s create your pumpkin gnocchi dough. In a medium sized pan boil one peeled and chopped sweet potato until soft to the touch with a fork. Boil for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain and leave off to the side to cool. Once lukewarm, smash the sweet potato with a fork until a smooth consistency.
Take your 00 flour and create a pasta pocket, add your egg yolk, sweet potato, pumpkin puree, cinnamon and nutmeg. Knead together until your dough is completely combined. This process should take about 5 minutes. Form into a ball, don’t be afraid to use more flour if the dough is becoming too sticky.
Step 2: PUMPKINS
Take your dough and start to create 1 ½ inch to 2 inch round balls. Place on a baking sheet – you don’t want your dough balls to be too small because you will be creating some detail. They shouldn’t be too big or they will take too long to cook.
Once placed on a baking sheet, place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from the freezer, it’s now time to create the detail on the “pumpkins”.
I used a chopstick for this process, but a toothpick works just as well. Create a crisscross detail on the top of the dough balls. I did 6 lines crossing – the amount of lines will depend on how small or large your balls are. Then poke a small hole on the top of the pumpkin. Once you have done this to each dough ball, place back into the freezer for another 20-25 minutes.
Step 3: CREAMY SAGE BUTTER SAUCE
On medium heat, in a saucepan place your butter and garlic into the pan and saute for about one minute. Then pour your coconut cream, cornstarch, salt, pepper, parmesan and fresh sage and stir. Bring to a boil and then lower the temperature to a low simmer. Simmer on low for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Step 4: BOIL YOUR PUMPKINS
Remove your gnocchi from the freezer and bring a medium sized pot to a boil. Boil each gnocchi for about 5 minutes – if they are on the smaller sized boil for 5 minutes if they are on the larger side boil for 7 minutes. Once boiled, remove from the pot and place to the side – repeat this process until all gnocchi’s are boiled to perfection!
Place a leaf of rosemary in each pumpkin gnocchi – this will be acting as a stem for your pumpkins! Drizzle your pumpkins with your creamy sage butter sauce and enjoy. Bon appetit!
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups of 00 flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 1 tbsp of pumpkin puree
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 13 oz of coconut cream
- 5 fresh sage leaves
- ¼ cup parmesan
- 1 tbsp pepper
- 2 tsp of salt
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
