When pasta and pumpkin collaborate, beautiful things happen and with autumn rolling on in, a big bowl of pillowy gnocchi kissed with a sage butter sheen is the quintessential fall recipe we all need at this time of year.
Date night dish? With a sauce like that, it would be a crime not to. Comfort food to see you through another season of Joe Goldberg’s murderous tendencies? For. Sure. Leftover Halloween carbs to make your Monday bearable? Uh huh honey. You get the gist. There’s never a bad time to be eating these doughy burnt orange dumplings.
Making gnocchi from scratch isn’t as complicated as you might think and whilst we’ve opted for canned pumpkin puree (lazy girls unite), you can switch up this recipe with fresh pumpkin or butternut squash if you prefer. You’ll also notice we seem to be missing a baked spud but again, in the name of easy recipes you can conveniently throw together between a Bake Off ad, Ricotta halves the prep time and just so happens to make for the most delicious soft gnocchi, too.
Next time you find your thumb hovering over Tinder, abort mission and swipe right on the main of your dreams instead. Keep scrolling for the goods!
SERVES 2
PREP:
30 MINS
COOK:
10 MINS
EASY
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients
- 150g of full fat ricotta
- 130g of pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 185g of flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs butter for pan frying
- Parmesan cheese to top with
Sage Butter:
- 80g of salted butter
- 2 clove of garlic
- 25(ish) sage leaves
- 1 tbs flour
- 1 tbs double cream
- 150ml of pasta water
Method: Gnocchi
- Put 3-4 sheets of paper towel or a muslin style tea towel in a colander to soak up some of the moisture from the pumpkin puree. Spread the puree over and leave for 5 minutes.
- Place the pumpkin puree, ricotta and flour in a bowl. Make a well, crack your egg into it and sprinkle a tsp of salt on top.
- Whisk your egg quickly using a fork.
- Then get stuck in with your hands, mixing all the ingredients to form a loaf-shaped dough. Be careful not to overmix – it should be slightly sticky.
- Flour a clean surface ready for your pumpkin.
- Turn out the dough onto the floured surface. Cut into 6 slices and roll each one into a long 2” log/rope shape. Cut into bitesize pieces.
- On the cut side of the gnocchi, press a fork into the dough to create restaurant-worthy lines.
- Place them aside on a plate and sprinkle with a little leftover flour to stop them from sticking.
- Bring a saucepan of water to the boil.
- Add the gnocchi pieces one at a time. When it rises to the top, it’s done. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Method: Sage Butter Sauce
- Melt 2 tbs butter in a non-stick skillet pan. Pan fry the gnocchi for 2 minutes to get it nice and crispy. Remove and set aside. Now onto the sage butter!
- Add 15g butter, sage leaves and garlic to the same pan. Cook over a low heat.
- Remove the sage leaves from the heat when they start to get crispy. Remove the garlic.
- Add the flour and whisk, then add the double cream and whisk again.
- Add the pasta water slowly to loosen up the sauce.
- Toss with the gnocchi & top with sage leaves. Season with black pepper and heaps of parmesan and enjoy!
