Easy Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce

Pillowy soft homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi, golden brown on the outside and bathed with a simple, stunning Sage Butter Sauce…. an EASY homemade gnocchi recipe, this is the stuff food dreams are made of!

Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi

The first gnocchi I ever made turned out black. Wait – not even black. If it was black, you might get away with claiming that it’s exotic, or coloured with squid ink. Mine were grey. 

I had slaved over them for hours. Made the classic way using mashed potato, I painstakingly followed every step in the lengthy recipe. I could envisage how impressed my family would be when I serenely placed the gnocchi in front of them, how they would praise me and exclaim how perfectly pillowy they were.

My vision did not come true. They were grey and they were hard. I am sure I remember my brother trying to bounce one off the table like a rubber ball.

Oh – just for clarity, this was back when I was in school. Did you think it was last week? 😉

Classic gnocchi made with potato is a recipe for more capable cooks. And while I have actually made it successfully since my first dismal effort, I’m still not always happy with the way they turn out.

Enter: the EASY way to make gnocchi. The secret? Ricotta!

Yes it really is this easy to make Pumpkin Gnocchi: just use a wooden spoon to mix mashed pumpkin, flour, parmesan, ricotta and egg, turn it out, no kneading, roll into ropes then cut.

And if you want to make your gnocchi look like what you get at restaurants, all you have to do is use a fork to press lines onto the cut side of the gnocchi. Worth the effort? I think so. It creates ridges which = more crispy golden surface + the butter sauce clings to it better.

Plus, it just looks pro, doesn’t it? 🙂

I shared a plain Ricotta Gnocchi recipe a couple of years ago. I really wanted to take the basic gnocchi up a notch so I decided to make this a pumpkin gnocchi.

I wasn’t 100% sure I could make it work, and truth be told it took quite a few batches to get it exactly right. I even dragged my mother in for recipe testing.

I am so glad we persevered though, because in all honesty, the pumpkin totally makes this gnocchi. Besides making it a beautiful bright orange colour that looks so spectacular when tinged with  golden brown, it adds sweetness and moisture into the gnocchi. You can’t actually taste the pumpkin – much like you can’t actually taste potato in classic potato gnocchi – but you know it’s there. You can’t miss it!

The little trick I found that really makes a difference is to extract some moisture out of the pumpkin simply by putting in on paper towels in a colander for a few minutes. Doing this reduces the amount of flour required by almost 1/3 cup which = softer gnocchi.

As for the sauce….well, I could have gotten more creative but the fact is, Sage Butter Sauce is always my first choice for gnocchi. It’s simple but luxurious, and let’s the Pumpkin Gnocchi shine through.

And if we’re going to make homemade gnocchi, let’s make sure we do it justice by making the sauce using a great quality butter. Hands down, my favourite butter has always been Lurpak. It is without a doubt the best butter that is sold at supermarkets here in Australia. In my humble opinion. ❤️

I almost fell off my chair when I was asked if I would create a recipe for them. I started babbling with excitement, exclaiming how Lurpak has always been my butter of choice. The ideas just rolled off my tongue,  I just kept saying I couldn’t believe this was happening, it was meant to be!!

I worked really hard on this recipe, and I truly hope I’ve done Lurpak proud. I’m certainly proud to have been selected to work with them, and I’m really proud of this recipe.

Oh! And just one more thing I want to mention – you don’t need an insane amount of butter to make the sauce for this Pumpkin Gnocchi. In fact, I think you’ll be surprised how little is required. Just enough to coat the gnocchi and have some drizzled on the plate. You don’t want the gnocchi swimming in butter – it’s just too rich.

One more thing I remembered – THIS FREEZES GREAT. The gnocchi cooks from frozen in about 1 1/2 minutes and takes about 5 minutes to pan fry and make the sauce.

Just think – the next time you’re cooking to impress, can you imagine the reaction you’ll get if you serve them homemade gnocchi? That don’t look like grey rubber balls??? – Nagi xx

Gnocchi Lovers!

• Easiest homemade gnocchi ever – Ricotta Gnocchi
• Pan Fried Gnocchi with Pumpkin & Spinach – quick and easy, made with store bought gnocchi

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

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Easy Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce

Author: Nagi

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Total: 30 mins

4.91 from 20 votes

Servings4

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VIDEO ABOVE. This is a super easy way to make gnocchi and the secret ingredient is ricotta which keeps the gnocchi soft and pillowy inside. Much easier than the classic recipe made with potato. It tastes unbelievable - soft inside, touch of sweet, golden crisp surface and finished with a classic Sage Butter Sauce! Makes 2 very generous servings or 4 as a starter.

Ingredients

Gnocchi:

• 300 g /10oz fresh pumpkin , steamed or boiled then mashed or 2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup ricotta , full fat (Note 2)
• 1 1/4 cup / 185g plain flour (all purpose flour), plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese , finely grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper

Sage Butter Sauce:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 50 g butter (Note 3)
• 20 fresh sage leaves

To serve:

• Black pepper (and salt if needed)
• Parmesan

Instructions

• Line a colander with 4 sheets of paper towel. Spread the fresh mashed pumpkin or canned puree onto the paper towel (see photo in post) then leave for 5 minutes.
• Measure out 1/2 cup of pumpkin.
• Place pumpkin and remaining Gnocchi ingredients in a bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix well - it should be a soft dough. (Note 4)
• Dust a work surface with flour, tip dough out, sprinkle with flour then pat into log shape.
• Cut into 6 pieces. Roll into 1.7cm / 2/3" ropes, then cut into squares (Note 5).
• Optional: Use a fork to press down lightly on the cut side of the gnocchi.
• COOKING: Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
• Scrape gnocchi onto parchment paper, then tip into water. Cook for 1 minute or until all the gnocchi rises to the surface (means it is cooked), then drain.
• Meanwhile, melt about 1 teaspoon of the butter plus oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add gnocchi and cook, shaking the pan, until the gnocchi is just starting to turn brown (about 1 1/2 minutes).
• Add remaining butter, once it melts, add sage leaves. Stir and cook for 2 1/2 minutes or until gnocchi is golden, sage is crisp and butter is slightly browned. Add salt if you used unsalted butter.
• Serve immediately, garnished with parmesan and pepper.

Recipe Notes:

1. This can be made with fresh or canned pumpkin. With either, step 1 in the recipe must be followed to remove some of the water from the puree, otherwise the dough is too sticky. If more flour is added to compensate, the gnocchi is not as soft.

Fresh Pumpkin or Butternut: Peel, deseed and cut into 3cm / 1.25" chunks. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes or until very soft. Drain in a colander and leave for 5 minutes to steam dry a bit, then mash. Then proceed with recipe.

2. There are different varieties of ricotta available. This recipe works best with soft ricotta that is so soft it's spreadable on bread, not the firmer ricotta that can be crumbled like feta with your hands. Woolies and Coles in Australia sell the firm ricotta over the deli - it is best to purchase one of the tubs in the refrigerator section. I've used most of the brands, even good value ones, and they all worked just fine.

3. I highly recommend using a high quality butter for the sauce because it's the crowning glory to finish this dish. I use the Lurpak block with the navy blue silver label which is slightly salted which has the perfect seasoning so I don't need to add any salt at all to the dish.

4. The dough should be a bit sticky but should form a ball i.e. comes away from edge of bowl. If too sticky, add a touch of flour - but the bare minimum required to be able to handle it!

5. Aim for square cuts, when you cut through it will drag the dough down and become a rectangle shape which is what you want to get the classic gnocchi shape.

6. STORAGE / MAKEAHEAD: Cooked gnocchi does not keep well - it sucks up all the sauce, making it bloated and soft on the surface. They become a bit sticky when refrigerated so it's not my favourite way to store it, but you can - add a dusting of flour before refrigerating for up to 2 days. The best way is to freeze it uncooked - spread out in single layers with paper in between in an airtight container, once firm you can transfer into ziplock bags if you prefer. Frozen gnocchi can be cooked from frozen - they will dimple a tiny bit more but they taste like they've been made fresh!

7. Nutrition (4 servings) - I know the calculator says 126g / 4 oz per serve but actually, it is more because the gnocchi expands when cooking because it absorbs water.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 126gCalories: 341kcal

Course:Mains, Starter

Cuisine:Italian, Western

Keyword:gnocchi recipe, homemade gnocchi, Pumpkin gnocchi

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

This fabulous Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce is brought into this world with many thanks to Lurpak which has been my butter of choice for as long as I can remember. If you make your own homemade gnocchi, it deserves the very best butter!!! N xx ❤️ 

LIFE OF DOZER

Post Pumpkin Gnocchi snack nap.

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