Easy Pumpkin Gnocchi With Sage Butter Sauce

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? 🙂

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 ❤️