LAW 175: How to make a glorious mess in your tiny kitchen; or the Pumpkin Gnocchi Were Divine or you can do more with pumpkin

 I want to start by letting you know this is not an every day dish. It is however worth the time and effort you will put into it. It is simply put, a divine expression of autumnal comfort food, and who doesn't need that in these perilous times.

Ready to roast

Nummy little pillows of pumpkin and potato deliciousness, robed with a sage and garlic butter sauce, garnished with thick cut hickory smoked bacon. 

Are you drooling yet? And Why did i decide to make pumpkin gnocchis? Well, i did have a lot of leftover fresh pumpkin from making pumpkin cider, soo....but that's another story.

Really, we find it sad that pumpkin is only available for a very short season, and that most of it is never eaten.

Start by roasting some pumpkin. I used about a quarter of a medium sized pumpkin for this. Treat it like you would any winter squash. Once it is tender and cooled off, scoop out the flesh, discard the skin, and set aside, or refrigerate. And yes of course you can freeze pumpkin. Roast a medium sized baking potato, one with a lot of starch. Repeat instructions for treating pumpkin, but don't throw away your potato skins. Go ahead, have a snack.

Ready

When you are ready to proceed to actually make the gnocchi you will need 1 tsp of salt, 1 egg, and somewhere between 1-2 cups of flour. Sorry, can't be a whole lot more precise than that as there are so many factors at play here, most of which have to do with moisture. I used about 1.5 cups this time and probably should have used a little more, as i ended up needing quite a bit of dusting flour.

IMPORTANT: Clear your work surface, you need enough space for one or two large plates and enough room to roll out your dough. Don't laugh, working in a boat galley, space is at a premium, prepping, mis-en-place all takes logical forethought. Remember, i'm doing this all on one burner. Make a nice big pile of flour on your work surface, put your mixed pumpkin/potato in the center, make a well, crack your egg into it and sprinkle the salt over. Quickly mix the egg in and dig in with your hands and as gently and swiftly as possible blend everything together. Knead until you have a nice smooth dough.

Gently now

You want a very soft(sorry it will be sticky)dough, try really really hard to not over work it. Shape your dough into a vaguely loaf shaped object, and slice a piece off. Roll it into a rope, and cut into bite sized shapes. Do make sure that you have your plate dusted with flour, try not to let them touch each other as they just love to grow ever closer. Wax paper can be a good friend here.

Yes i know that leaves a lot of wiggle room and up to your imagination, but hey!

Break time

Now here is where your prep and mine might diverge. Bearing in mind i only have one burner, so a major consideration in bringing together a meal of this complexity is the order in which it is best done. At this point i fried up my bacon, picked my sage leaves and grated my parmesan cheese.

Bacon porn, why not

All of the rest of this meal prep is very hands on. Hopefully you took the time to relax a little and imbibe in an adult beverage of your choice.

Bring a large pan of salted water just to a boil and one at a time, yes you read that right, one at a time, and yes i do know, you probably have  30 plus plump little pillows of divine pumpkin potato goodness resting calmly next to your cook top, one at a time tip those little bits of goodness into the water. Don't over crowd the pan and as soon as they float to the surface, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, drain and set aside.

Wait until they float

Get out a nice sized shallow fry pan, i would certainly recommend a 12" cast iron chicken fryer. I have one from Lodge and it is my go to pan. You want a medium high heat. Melt 2 Tb butter, fill your pan with as many gnocchis as you can without crowding. Do Not Turn Them Over. You want the contrast of a nicely browned and slightly crispy bottom and a soft pillowly top. I filled my pan twice. Try not to interfere with the process, until the gnocchis develop color and crisp they will stick to the pan and well, you don't want that to happen. As they are done, once more, set them aside.

Add an additional 2 Tb butter, melt, toss in your sage leaves, smash at least one nice sized clove of garlic and toss it in. Saute until the sage leaves start to crisp, 2-3 minutes, reserve sage leaves and garlic if you want.

Honest, don't poke the gnocchis

Whisk in 1 TB flour and cook stirring for a bit, add 1 TB milk,1/2 & 1/2 or milk, take your pick, next up 1/2 cup of the water from poaching the gnocchis. Gosh i hope you didn't throw it away. Stir back in the gnocchis, coating each and everyone of those little bits of tenderness. Serve topped with cheese, bacon and sage leaves.

butter, sage and garlic, why not?

Oh my oh my oh my.

Yes indeed

This should technically serve 4 people. I lost about 1/4 of this batch due to operater error. I told you to not let them touch! We were absolutely stuffed, but we did eat all of the rest of them. With a light antipasto and maybe a salad this would definitely be a filling celebratory meal for four people.

Don't forget the pepper and wine

RECAP

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 baking potato

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1.5 to 2 cups of flour

2 TB butter for frying 

Sauce:

2 TB butter

1 TB flour

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 TB cream

1/2 cup starchy water

Sage leaves

Does it look i used too much bacon?

I know that this might seem like a lot of work for a meal i promise you will love, but if you love to cook it is just such a wonderful gift to the people who love to eat your food.

evidence of a well loved meal

Bon appetit

gail