A classic Italian Gnocchi made with fresh butternut squash and cooked in a sage and butter sauce.
Serves: 6 Cups Gnocchi
Ingredients
2 lbs.butternut squash (to yeild 2 cups of puree)
1 tsp. olive oil
1 dash salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 egg, whisked
2¼ cup all purpose flour + more for kneading (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
4 tbsp. butter (I used Brummel and Brown)
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. dried sage or 6 - 8 leaves of fresh sage.
4 cups water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Line baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil; set a side.
Slice your butternut squash in half, and discard the seeds. Drizzle about 1 tsp. of olive oil over the squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 30 - 40 minutes (mine was 30 minutes), depending on the size of your squash. Cook until it is fork tender; set a side until cool enough to handle.
Scrap the squash from the skin and place in a food processor and puree until smooth. You can also mash with a potato masher. You want to end up with 2 cups of butternut squash puree, reserve the remaining puree for another use.
Place squash in a large pot and cook until the liquid has evaporated about 5 - 10 minutes; stirring occasionally. Set squash a side until room temperature.
In a large pot, add water and bring to a boil; meanwhile prepare the gnocchi.
Place the squash in a bowl, at this point you can add additional seasoning, I added cinnamon and cayenne pepper or you can leave it plain. Add the egg to squash; mix together. Add 1 cup of flour and mix, add remaining flour and mix until dough forms into a ball.
On a heavily floured surface knead the dough until it all comes together. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour. Take part of the dough and form it into a long rope about ½" round and cut off ½" of dough at a time. With a fork you can make little lines, which is optional. At this point you can freeze the gnocchi, by laying on a parchment lined baking sheet and placing in the freezer for 30 minutes, than placing the frozen gnocchi into a freezer bag. To cook, follow directions below.
To cook gnocchi, place about 1 cup of gnocchi at a time in boiling water and cook until the gnocchi floats to the top of the water, about 2 minutes. Frozen will take about 3 - 4 minutes.
Meanwhile in a large skillet add butter, olive oil and fresh or dried sage; cook until melted. Add gnocchi to butter and sage mixture and cook until all the gnocchi is covered with butter and slightly browned if you prefer.
I made the serving size for 5, about 1 cup per person. Since I made my gnocchi so large, however, I measured out about 6 cups.
You can top the gnocchi with Parmesan Cheese and crushed pepper flakes if desired.