Homemade Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi
Soft homemade Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi with a brown butter sauce! A simple recipe that is ready in under an hour and freezes very well.
Disclaimer: estimated nutrition info is for the gnocchi only, without the butter sauce.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For the pumpkin gnocchi:
- 2 cups cold butternut squash or pumpkin puree if using canned, make sure it's unsweetened.
- 6.5 ounces soft ricotta cheese drained if too watery
- 3.5 ounces parmesan cheese grated
- 3 egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 ½ to 2 cups flour plus more for the working surface
- salt and black pepper to taste
- extra salt for the cooking water
For the blue cheese brown butter:
- 8 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves plus extra for sprinkling, optional
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
For the pumpkin gnocchi:
- In a large bowl, mix 2 cups cold butternut squash or pumpkin puree with 6.5 ounces soft ricotta cheese. There's a whole post for making homemade pumpkin puree.
- Add 3 egg yolks, 3.5 ounces parmesan cheese, a little salt (keep in mind that the cheese is salty), pepper and mix well.
- Add 1 cup flour and start combining with a fork. It should be thick.
- Heavily flour the board or surface where you will be shaping the gnocchi and dump the pumpkin mixture. Add ½ cup of flour on top of the mixture, and, with floured hands, start gathering the dough until you have an irregular ball. Don't knead it or work it too much.
- Take a piece of pumpkin dough and shape it into a log. You should be able to make a rope, so add flour as needed, a little at a time, and make sure you stop when you can cut it in pieces and they hold their shape. They will still be very soft. That is fine.
- Transfer them to a floured baking tray and scatter the gnocchi, not touching each other. Repeat with all of the dough. At this point, I always put them 15 minutes in the freezer or at least the refrigerator before cooking them. The cold will aid in keeping their shape when cooking.
- When ready to eat them, cook them in abundant salted water, adding them directly from the fridge or the freezer (no need to defrost them). The water should be between a simmer and a boil. Avoid rapid boiling as it will probably disintegrate parts of the gnocchi.
- Once they float to the surface they are done.
- Take them out with a skimmer or slotted spoon, draining the water well, and transfer to the serving plate. Drizzle with the butter on top, sprinkle with extra thyme, some freshly ground black pepper and more blue cheese if wanted.
- Eat immediately.
For the blue cheese brown butter:
- Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. It will bubble and make loud chirping noises. Then the bubbles will subside and it will foam. That’s when it’ll start to brown, so watch it carefully. You want a golden color.
- Remove from the heat, add ½ cup crumbled blue cheese, 1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves and mix. Some bits of cheese might remain.
Notes
Blue cheese: I suggest you start with the amount of blue cheese given in the recipe and add some more on top of the pasta if you feel you want more. If your ricotta is watery, drain it through a kitchen towel or cheesecloth on a colander over a bowl for a few hours.
Test boil: ne thing you can do if you’re doing gnocchi for the first time is to have a pot of boiling salted water when you start making the gnocchi. Shape a small amount without adding too much flour, boil them, and taste them. Fix the amount of flour and seasonings accordingly.
Texture: so it's all about knowing what the right texture is, which in this recipe's case, is about being able to make a rope but not lift it up easily from the table. That way you'll get gorgeous gnocchi that freezes perfectly well; so spend some time making a big batch and then freeze them for later times. Talk about a great quick dinner.
Butter sauce: pumpkin and pasta are commonly paired with butter and herbs, especially sage. The idea is not to overpower the soft flavor of the pasta. So the amount of blue cheese is given by how strong it is.
Ridges: I don't roll them down the fork to make the characteristic ridges, because they are extremely tender, and I'd have to make a much firmer dough (read: add more flour) in order to be able to make the indentations.
How to freeze gnocchi: 1) Roll the dough and cut it into small pieces. 2) Put them in a lightly floured baking sheet (image above) separated from each other. 3) Freeze directly in the sheet. When they are completely frozen and rock-solid transfer the gnocchi to a plastic bag or container and keep frozen. 4) When ready to cook, boil them directly from the freezer.
