Pumpkin gnocchi

I love to eat pumpkin. Japanese pumpkin is my favorite because it's sweeter than other types of pumpkin and the texture when it's cooked is powdery. Plain steam japanese pumpkin is my all time favorite snack. Love it. Unfortunately, I'm the only one in the house who love to eat pumpkin. CP and the boys, they don't like to eat pumpkin. So I try to find ways to make them eat pumpkin. Making the gnocchi dough at home with the children and get them to help kneading and rolling is so fun! And such a great experience for them. G finished one bowl of pumpkin gnocchi by himself. G said "This piece of gnocchi was made by me, I remembered.", before he popped the gnocchi from the spoon to his mouth happily. 

Pumpkin gnocchi (serve 2)

• 500 g Japanese pumpkin
• 1 egg yolk
• 90 g plain flour (more for dusting on the board)
• 30 g ground hazelnut
• 15 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 40 g butter, browned
• 15 sage leaves, picked
• 2 TBSP toasted hazelnut, chopped
• a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• salt to taste

Cut the pumpkin into wedges and remove the seeds and place them in the baking sheet. Toss them with a little bit of salt and olive oil. Roast them at 200 C for about 30 minutes or until tender. Let them cool until enough to handle. 


Puree the pumpkin in a large bowl with food mill.


Add the egg yolk, ground hazelnut, flour, parmesan cheese, salt and nutmeg. Mix together with a fork.


Flour a wooden board and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With floured hand, take a large tablespoon of the dough and roll into a long log that is about 1/2" diameter. Cut this log onto 1" pieces. Roll each piece on a fork to create indentation (those lines on the gnocchi) and drop it on a baking sheet. Repeat until you have cut all the dough.


To cook them bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Drop the gnocchi into it. They are done when they float to the surface.

In the mean time, heat the butter until nicely browned and smell nutty. Then add the sage leaves and toss the cooked gnocchi in it. Serve with toasted hazelnut and grated parmesan cheese.