Hello everyone. Nice to see you came to my blog today and discovered my delicious Butternut squash gnocchi recipe. We often associate pumpkin recipes mostly with fall and winter, which in fact is a shame. I’m a huge pumpkin fan all year round, so in the last few days I’ve been intensely dedicated to a few pumpkin recipes that I think fit perfectly into the summer,
because they are so nice and light and fresh and taste especially good with a touch of sunshine.
Original Italian Butternut squash gnocchi Recipe with Parmesan Cheese
Today I want to share with you my recipe for Italian pumpkin gnocchi with Parmesan. Making gnocchi by hand is a bit of a labor-intensive endeavor, but really worth every single minute of work. To create the perfect gnocchi recipe, I searched through quite a few Italian cookbooks and websites and learned all sorts of helpful knowledge. Ultimately, though, an old friend from Italy was willing to share his mother’s gnocchi secrets with me, saving me from flour clumps and other gnocchi disasters. So with all sorts of advice from the best possible source, I was not only able to make real Italian gnocchi myself but even invent this delicious pumpkin gnocchi variation from it.
Gnocchi with Parmesan cheese
Particularly important for the success of the gnocchi is the choice of the right flour, there are two different types of flour to choose from, which have a high content of gluten. One is the typical Italian type 00 flour or type 550 flour, both of which have the advantage that the gnocchi becomes nice and fluffy and yet do not fall apart.
Please make sure you have enough flour on hand and not just the amount specified in the recipe. The addition of the pumpkin puree and a basically slightly smaller amount of flour in the pumpkin gnocchi creates a sticky, very soft dough. This soft dough doesn’t have to cause you any headaches, though, because, with a generously floured work surface and floured
hands, you’ll be experts at shaping gnocchi dough in no time. Italian gnocchi with butternut squash and Parmesan cheese.
I recommend cutting the pumpkin gnocchi mixture with a dough scraper and rolling it on a floured work surface. By working with the dough scraper or cutter, the dough absorbs less flour, and you only have to help it with your hands in between. The small amount of flour in gnocchi is deliberately kept that way and is not a problem at all, as the dough is additionally bound by egg and Parmesan cheese, which holds everything together during cooking. It also offers the advantage that the flavor of the pumpkin comes through fully and nothing distracts from this delicious main ingredient. The finished pumpkin gnocchi have a wonderfully fluffy consistency and taste really delicious. Italian gnocchi with butternut squash and Parmesan cheese
Flouring your work surface and hands is probably the most important and essential advice when making gnocchi yourself. It is also important to press the dough scraper, which you use
Italien Butternut Gnocchi Recipe
To cut and roll the dough, into a little flour every now and then to prevent it from sticking. If you don’t have a pastry cutter at hand, you can alternatively use a large, straight knife. Italian gnocchi with butternut squash and Parmesan cheese
The gnocchi gets their typical ridges by rolling them over a small wooden board with corresponding ridges.
My recipe tip for you!
Gnocchi with creamy sauce and salmon
These small boards can be bought in many household stores or via the Internet and are called gnocchi or pasta board. However, it is not absolutely necessary for the preparation of gnocchi. Alternatively, you can simply roll the gnocchi over a fork to
create the typical grooves. These ridges, by the way, serve to better absorb the sauce or, as in this case, the butter, which thus adheres to the gaps, while with a smooth surface structure it tends to run down.
Gnocchi with butternut squash and Parmesan cheese
The recipe for the pumpkin gnocchi can easily be halved if you’re only cooking for two people and need a smaller amount of gnocchi. If you’re a big pumpkin fan like me and already know you want to make delicious pumpkin gnocchi on a regular basis, you can also stick with the original amount from the recipe and freeze the gnocchi after cooking. They keep very well frozen and after being defrosted they can be sautéed beautifully in a little olive oil or clarified butter and then taste great a second time without having to make a big effort again. You can find more delicious pumpkin recipes on my blog, which I have linked for you here.
My recipe tip for you!
Roasted pumpkin with feta and vegetables
- Oven-baked Stuffed Hokkaido pumpkin
- American Pumpkin Cheesecake with Dulce de Leche and candied walnuts
I hope you enjoy reading, strolling through, and trying out my cooking and baking recipes!
Equipment
- 1 cutting board
- 1 bowl
- 1 knife
- 1 large pot
- 1 scale
- 1 parchment paper
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
Gnocchi Recipe
- 800 g butternut squash without skin (equivalent to a 1.5 kg squash)
- 160 g flour (type 00 or type 550 – very important)
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch nutmeg (generous)
- 90 g Grated Parmesan (for the dough)
- 0,5 tsp salt
- pepper from the mill
- Flour for the work surface to work with (generously)
Sage butter
- 60 g butter
- 1 Handful of fresh sage leaves
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients, if necessary already weigh and measure. Peel and core the butternut squash.
- Start by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the pumpkin cut into even pieces on it. Place the butternut squash in the preheated oven at 160 degrees for about 40 minutes. It should have a soft consistency afterwards.
- The soft pumpkin pieces are then mashed with a fork or potato masher. The mixture is then poured into a shallow dish after dish to cool completely. You can also prepare this pumpkin puree the day before or the night before to save yourself the time it takes for the pumpkin to cool when making gnocchi.
- Weigh 800 grams of the pumpkin mixture and mix with the eggs, flour and grated Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and nutmeg.
- Form the pumpkin mixture into a roll with floured hands.
- The work surface should be generously floured, but try to work as little extra flour into the gnocchi dough as possible. This is important so that the gnocchi have a loose consistency and do not become small flour dumplings.
- Using a dough scraper or a straight knife, which should also be floured or pressed into flour in between, cut small pieces off the dough roll.
- These small pieces of dough are then rolled over the small wooden gnocchi board to obtain the shape typical for gnocchi. If you don;t have an appropriate board at hand, you can roll the gnocchi over a fork to create the same effect.
- The next thing to do is to boil a large pot of lightly salted water. The pumpkin gnocchi are cooked part by part for a brief moment in the boiling water, making sure you don’t put too many gnocchi in at the same time. As soon as they rise to the surface, they are good.
- Once cooked, place the gnocchi in an oiled bowl, swirling them back and forth a bit, so they get a very light film of oil.
- Melt butter in a pan and sauté the sage leaves briefly in the butter. In a separate pan, fry the gnocchi briefly in hot butter so that they get some color. The gnocchi taste best when served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
