Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Day 43: Pumpkin Gnocchi


On my last trip to Alstede Farm Market to pick up some local eggs and some of the wonderful Vermont cheddar cheese they stock, I picked up the  Holiday/Winter 2010 edition of the Black River Journal (http://www.blackriverjournal.com/) and found a recipe for pumpkin gnocchi that sounded doable. Last night I went shopping after work (I got out at 10 pm - the store was open until midnight). When I got home I put the ricotta cheese in some cheesecloth, set it in a strainer with a heavy bowl on top of it and put it in the refrigerator to drain overnight.  I use Sorrento brand because it is pure cheese, no xanthan or locust bean gum. There are lots of recipes out there. This one called for 8 oz drained ricotta, 8 oz pumpkin, 1/2 c parmesaen reggiano, 1 cup flour, 2 egg yolks, minced sage, salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg. I used pumpkin I had roasted and frozen back in late September. The recipe called for 1 stick of butter to fry the gnocchi in after they cook in boiling water (until they rise to the top) - I used about 1/4 stick. I used sage I had hanging to dry from the Thanksgiving CSA share. We had this with a salad of Romaine lettuce with carrots and calamata olives. I broke down and brought the lettuce at the grocery store - from California I guess - but it looked really good (and it was) and we have all been craving a good salad.  The gnocchi was voted a success and a keeper- that's number two this week! I still have 1/2 of the container of ricotta cheese (I drained the whole thing) and another bag of defrosted pumpkin - so I'm thinking I will make another batch tomorrow and freeze them.
Gnocchi
8 oz pumpkin (roasted and mashed)
8 oz ricotta cheese (drained overnight in refiig.)
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1 c all purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 tsp minced sage
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Sauce
1 stick butter ( I used 1/4 stick and it was just fine)
20 or so fresh sage leaves- cut into chiffonade with dome left whole
S&P
pasta water
grated
Parmesan

Combine pumpkin & ricotta , egg yolks, flour, 1/2 c Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg and minced sage and mix until stiff, but add as little flour as possible; the less flour, the lighter the gnocchi. The mix will seem still too wet to work with, but if you use a well-floured surface with well-floured hands you can roll it into a rope without sticking.
Cut into 1 inch gnocchi and place on a well floured surface (freeze them if you are not going to boil them within 1 hour)
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted after till they float. Melt the butter and add the sage. Add the cooked gnocchi to the sage butter and fry for a minute or two. Add a ladle or two of pasta water and boil it down to create a sauce - add the rest of the grated Parmesan.

2 comments:

  1. Do you think non-gluten flours would work (e.g. rice, potato, sorgum)?

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  2. I know you can make gnocchi from potatoes, that might work. I also saw some recipes on line that used a GF blend called Bette Hagman's Gourmet Blend. You might have to experiment.

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