Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sauce

It's fall and that means it's pumpkin time. This little beauty is a Lady Godiva pumpkin, the meat is not super pumpkiny but the seeds are amazing! The seeds are naked, which means no shell and they plump when you bake them. I had it laying around and decided it was time to cut it open and make something yummy. I was craving gnocchi and wanted something different so I decided to make a pumpkin sauce. You can use any kind of pumpkin for this recipe and it will taste delicious. I had to add a little pumpkin pie spice to the sauce because this specific  pumpkin has a mellow pumpkin taste. It is super easy so give it a try and enjoy. 

Pumpkin Sauce
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 small red onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 cups of pumpkin
1 tbs butter
1 bay leaf
S&P
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp allspice
1/4 cup milk

Heat oil in a small pot and saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Add in the broth, pumpkin and bay leaf, cover and cook on medium/high for 15 minutes or until super soft. Add in the butter and seasonings, remove the bay leaf and the mixture. Puree the pumpkin until super fine and smooth. I typically press the mixture continuously through a mesh colander over a pot to keep all little clumps out of the sauce. Once you place the pumpkin back in a pot heat it to medium heat and add in the milk. Taste the sauce at this point and add any more seasoning that you want. Cover and keep warm on low while you finish the gnocchi. 

Gnocchi
Makes 4 servings

1 lb of Yukon potatoes
1 1/4 cups of flour + 1/4 cup more 
1 egg


Lightly flour a smooth surface on your counter top for working. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the potatoes with the skin on until soft. Once the potatoes are soft remove them from the water and let them cool. 

While the potatoes are cooling, make a mound out of the flour on a lightly floured surface, making a well for the egg. Bring a large pot of water to a light boil. Peel the potatoes and then press them through a potato ricer and place next to the flour.

Crack an egg into the flour well and scramble with a fork then slowly mixing in a bit of flour at a time. Continue doing this until it becomes tough to mix then use your hands to combine the potatoes in with the mixture (this is where things get a little messy). Keep mixing and kneading the dough with your hands until the ball of dough is smooth but not sticky, continue to add in flour as needed. 

To prepare the gnocchi split the ball of dough into four pieces and each piece into a snake like tubes. Cut the tubes into 3/4 inch pieces. Make sure to place the cut gnocchi onto a floured surface to keep from sticking then carefully place a few at a time into the boiling pot of water. The gnocchi are ready when they float. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place into a serving dish. Mix in the pesto and serve warm.