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
-
Malfatti – Cousin of the gnocchi, made with spinach and ricotta
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ready to see how easy it is to make Pumpkin Gnocchi? 🙂
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Easy Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce
Ingredients
Gnocchi Dough
- 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 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
- 50g / 3.5 tbsp 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 puree (scale up if you scaled recipe, Note 6).
- 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:
Nutrition Information:
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.
Excellent recipe, likely to become a staple, as freezes so well.
Many on here seem to have issues ensuring the pumpkin is dry enough. Two tips:
a) I didn’t boil the pumpkin but roasted it. This keeps the pumpkin from becoming too wet and also brings out the sweet and nutty taste as it roasts.
b)Use a good pumpkin variety. Many pumpkins a la the Halloween carving kind are much too watery. I used crown prince which is an excellent culinary pumpkin
I’ve not had much luck making my own gnocchi in the past but I’ve made this recipe now on several occasions and it’s a winner. I prefer it fresh to frozen but frozen is good too. First time I over cooked it, oops, so it was a bit tough but every time thereafter, as soon as it boils, out it goes.
I notice some people in the comments are having trouble with the wetness of the dough. If it helps: I boiled my pumpkin (butternut or kent) and let it sit in a sieve with absorbent towels (under and on top). Then replace the towels and repeat. Also, I use the tub ricotta from the supermarket (Perfect Italiano) without issue. Don’t overmix the dough as I can imagine it will get wet if over-stirred. Once it comes together then I sprinkle a bit of flour over the top to reduce the stickiness as I mould it into a log before cutting. I sprinkle a bit more before I roll each log into a long slither before cutting. Good luck and bon appetite!
For those having issues, could it be the ricotta used? If you get a smooth ricotta and not a firm ricotta it would be stickier…
Hi Nagi,
I follow the recipe exactly, but it still comes up sooooo sticky! I have already doubled the amount of flour and still it is not workable. I used fresh pumpkin, steamed it, left it in the colander for 10min, then mashed it, left in on paper towels for 20min en then used it in the recipe. What am I doing wrong? I have tried this recipe 3x times now with no results. 😭
Absolutely failed at this recipe 🙁 I ended up squeezing the LIFE out of the steamed pumpkin to remove the moisture, but yet no amount of flour was enough to form an un sticky dough. Maybe next time I will try pre puréed pumpkin. Not the end of me yet with this recipe, I’m keen to get it to work!!
I just made this and it was a hit!! Healthy and delicious! For those in the comments section that did not successfully make this.. they did something wrong or did not follow the instructions carefully!
I agree with the people in the comments doing something wrong 😑 plus it is so easy not to say for no one else to try it
This recipe is so delicious and super easy to make. I am a twelve and I made this for my food tech assessment at school in under an hour. Would definitely recommend this. Leave 2-3 hours if this is your first time making it. Thank you Nagi for creating this beautiful recipe!! It is also fantastic to freeze. We haven’t had better gnocchi ever, and we have had private chefs make it for us. Thank you!!!
Hi Nagi have made this a couple of times now. Excellant results. Gave some to an Italian friend to take home (had some in the freezer). He said it was fabulous! Thanks for a great recipe much appreciated.
Nagi your normally my go to girl for reliable recipes. I followed this one precisely & all I have to show is a sticky mess & no dinner. Really disappointed. Don’t bother with this recipe!
Hi Jess, I’m so sad to hear that. 🙁 I must confess it’s a while since I made this recipe so I checked back through reader feedback and it does seem that many people have made it successfully. Is there a chance you mismeasured? Also, if the dough was too sticky, the easy fix is just to add a bit more flour until it’s workable 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
Is it possible for you to post the recipe with weight measurements instead of volume measurements please?
Volume measurements for things like ricotta or Parmesan is ambiguous. Not to mention much trickier to measure out when working with pasta as you need to constantly wash out your measuring cup, as opposed to just plonking all ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Hi I have made this several times. Great recipe. I actually lightly roasted the fresh pumkin with two garlic cloves. Not as wet, compared to boiling Great result! Added heaps of sage.
I’ve never made gnocchi and had to make my own ricotta first so either of these deficiencies may account for my fail with this recipe. The gnocchi were heavy and a bit hard and the whole lot was a bit dry. I tried to use a light hand but not successfully. Unrated for these reasons.
This looks great! Made my own pumpkin puree and it made a ton so I’ve been looking for ways to use it up. Wondering what sort of sides you’d recommend with this. Bonus is they’re veggie. Thanks
Hi Jasmine, I’d do a simple rocket salad and garlic bread – YUM! N x
Can the Pumpkin Gnocchi be frozen before cooking? I have lots of Pumpkin so it would be nice to make a big batch. Some to keep and some to share. Thanks
Yes 100% Elaine! N x
Best Gnocchi I ever made! Fluffy and super tasty with the ricotta and cheese…I used 3/4 pumpkin 1/4 potato. I also added some garlic and lemon zest to the sauce as well as a little bit of the pasta water so it gets very creamy and sticks to the pasta even better!
New favourite fall recipe! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Sarah, that’s great to hear! N x
Hi Nagi,
I am confused, if you change the number of serves all the quantities increase but the method remains use 1/2 cup pumpkin so should it be 1/2 cup pumpkin per person/serve? Apologies if this has been answered, I couldn’t find it in the comments
Hi Kirsten! The recipe scaler only works on the ingredients, it doesn’t auto scale quantities embedded in the directions unfortunately. So you’ll need to scale it up manually yourself. I popped a note in the recipe so you won’t forget! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I substitute the pumpkin for sweet potato? and if so, do the measures stay the same?
Thank you
Caroline
Hi Caroline you sure can – just use the same amount 🙂 N x
I made this for dinner last night 👌🏻
5 stars from me ⭐️
Could you substitute the plain flour with either almond meal or tapioca flour, etc.?
Hi Sharon, sorry it won’t work as you need the gluten in the flour to help bind. N x
Thanks Nagi ! Made this for dinner tonight. 2 Coeliac’s in my household and substituted Aldi gluten free flour. Worked well. My gnocchi trick is to use some sr flour to account for my heavy hand . Used 20% sr to plain tonight – would try 30% next time for lighter gnocchi – especially as I think frying it dries it out a a little bit.
How much gnocchi does this make?
Hi Kate, depends on how big you cut them but this recipe serves 4 people 🙂 N x
Thing is i have a packet of pumpkin gnocchi i need to use and was wondering hiw much to use for the sauce.
Hi Nagi
Wondering why you wouldn’t roast the pumpkin beforehand? Makes it rich and sweet and also not as watery – so no need to drain water from it. Is there a secret reason this way wouldn’t work? thanks – love your recipes!
What do you think if we use a gluten-free flour/
Hi Onya, the texture would be too dense unfortunately – N x