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Scrumptious Squash Gnocchi
updated: Jan 01, 2011, 8:30 AM

By Leah Etling

My Christmas was filled with delicious food this year, and I hope yours was too.

If you read last week's column you know we were headed for culinary experimentation over Christmas dinner. Despite some hurdles, a delicious butternut squash gnocchi was part of our holiday table. It was excellent and a huge improvement over my previous pumpkin attempt.

But before I get to that, I have to rave for a minute over the amazing Swedish Farmer omelet that my mom put together for Christmas breakfast. Served with pastry, medistepolse and egg-braid bread from Solvang, it was a perfect Scandinavian start to a holiday morning. I'll share that recipe next week.

Now, on to the gnocchi. This is a recipe from Fine Cooking, which makes a very light squash-flavored pasta. It's so light that they don't recommend rolling or cutting it … their suggestion is to use a pastry bag to essentially squirt the gnocchi into the boiling water. We adapted the recipe by adding extra flour, and dropped it by the teaspoonful into the water instead. This was successful.

Christmas Day, we lost power for 24 hours beginning in the morning, so our kitchen plans had to be modified accordingly. We drove over to a relatives' house to bake the squash in her oven in preparation for making the gnocchi dough. Our oven is electric, but the stove is gas-powered, so we were able to make the remainder of the meal by candlelight. The only necessary modification was to keep the gnocchi out of the oven after boiling them and heat them in a saucepan with the sage-brown butter sauce just before we were ready to eat.

I apologize that there are no photos with this week's column. Lack of light made this impossible.

Recipe follows:

1-1/2 lb. butternut squash
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 egg
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (we added an additional cup of flour to get the dough thick enough)
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
5 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. chopped sage
1/4 cup shredded smoked mozzarella
Process:
Heat the oven to 425°F.

Cut the squash in half and rub with olive oil. Place on a sheet pan with 1/2 cup of water, and roast in the oven until completely tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

In a large bowl, mash the squash with a fork and then mix in the egg, flour, nutmeg, salt, and Parmigiano-Reggiano to form a loose dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. (This can speed up your process if you're cooking for a crowd and need to do things ahead of time.)

Bring salted water to a boil.
Original recipe: Spoon the dough into a pastry bag and pipe the gnocchi into the water, using a butter knife to cut the dough into individual 1/2-inch dumplings.
Adaptation: Skip the pastry bag and spoon directly into the boiling water.
Cook about 20 gnocchi at a time until they rise to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the cooked gnocchi into a bowl. Continue until all the gnocchi are cooked. Pat gnocchi dry with a kitchen towel.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sage leaves and the gnocchi to the pan and cook until the gnocchi are warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour out into a large serving bowl and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.

I can't say enough about the great flavor the smoked mozzarella added to this dish. Compared to last week, this squash gnocchi recipe was restaurant quality and I will definitely make it again!

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 132409	2011-01-01 01:31 PM
Sounds great! I have a bn squash on my counter and no idea what to do with it. I'll try this!
COMMENT 132479	2011-01-01 07:23 PM
BN Squash: Peel to get rid of all the tough rind, scoop the seeds out, slice it 3/4 thick half rounds and roast them in 425 degree oven on a buttered no-stick baking sheet until the slices caramelize. About a half hour or until lovely and browned a bit and a little crispy. And if there are sufficient scooped out seeds, boil in salted water for about 10 minutes, toss with some oil and pop them into the oven too to toast a bit and then season with salt and/or other flavorings to taste.
COMMENT 132485	2011-01-01 08:06 PM
You can eat the seeds? Wow didn't know that. Thanks
COMMENT 132534	2011-01-02 09:45 AM
I've toasted pumpkin seeds at Halloween for 40 yrs. Never heard of boiling first (I just cleaned in salted water), I really like the idea and can't wait to try it. Thanks!
MICHELE	2011-01-02 10:26 AM
Sounds wonderful! Too bad that I divorced cooking and married Trader Joe.

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