This recipe is a brilliant way to use up any butternut squash you have left over. A fun and hands on recipe that is a great (and cheap) alternative to shop bought gnocchi. I served this with a fresh sage butter and light side salad to really appreciate the flavour of the fresh gnocchi. This recipe only uses half the butternut squash puree it yields, but the remainder will freeze well for use in other recipes such as butternut squash risotto or vegetable soup.
Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 mins (plus cooling time)
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 butternut squash (roughly 500 g)
1 tbsp olive oil
300 g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and quartered
50 g grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
1 large egg
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp salt
200 g plain flour
75 g salted butter
small handful fresh sage leaves, chopped, plus extra to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200⁰C. Cut the squash length-ways and remove the seeds. Lay the halves of squash, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Brush the flesh with the olive oil and roast in the oven for between 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the flesh is completely tender.
2. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool slightly before scooping out all the flesh. Place the flesh into a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and heat gently until the liquid has evaporated and the puree has thickened, stirring constantly. Once thickened, leave to cool. This step is important as soggy butternut squash will result in having to use a LOT more flour to make a dough.
3. Meanwhile, cook the quartered potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water until very tender. Drain the potatoes before finely mashing, or preferably passing through a potato ricer. Leave to cool completely
4. Once everything has cooled, mix the half the squash (reserving the rest), potato, Parmesan, egg, nutmeg and salt in a large glass bowl. Gradually add the flour, kneading everything together until it forms a dough. Tip onto a floured surface and knead until just smooth. If the dough is too sticky add a touch more flour. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
5. Taking one piece of the dough at a time, roll into a 1/2 inch sausage on a floured surface. Chop the roll of dough into 3/4 inch pieces. Take each piece of gnocchi and press and roll it along the back of a floured fork to create a patterned curl (this is not essential but adds texture and results in a prettier dish).
6. Once each piece of gnocchi has been cut, rolled and shaped transfer them onto a floured and lined baking sheet. The gnocchi could be frozen in batches at this point for later use.
7. Cook the gnocchi in batches in a large pan of boiling salted water until tender and floating on top of the water. This may take up to 15 minutes (some gnocchi may begin to float before the are fully cooked). Remove from the pan and return to the baking sheet. The gnocchi can be kept in the fridge for up to 8 hours at this point if needed.
8. When ready to eat, cook the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat until golden (3-4 minutes). Add the chopped sage leaves and astir for a further minute. Add the gnocchi and cook until heated through and coated in butter (5 minutes). Season with a grate of salt and pepper. Serve with a grating of Parmesan and a light salad of baby leaves or rocket.
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