Aphorisms from the Professor: Brillat-Savarin

Sunday, September 26, 2010

little pillows of goodness

My boyfriend and I like to be creative and try new things in the kitchen, but there are some combinations that we've stumbled upon that we just keep going back to. Or at least there are some meals I force us to revisit because I love them so much! As soon as I saw a butternut squash in our CSA box last week, I could only think one thing: butternut squash gnocchi.

Butternut squash gnocchi:
- cut 1 large (or two small) butternut squash in half and roast for 45 minutes
- scoop out squash into bowl
- mash squash with two cloves of minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- put mashed squash onto a large cutting board and cover with 2 cups all-purpose flour
- make a well in the center of the squash & flour
- break egg in the well, then slowly work in the flour/squash (think making pasta dough)
- as soon as dough is even vaguely manageable, take small handfuls, and roll into ropes on a lightly floured surface (the trick is to take the very sticky ball of dough, and coat the outside lightly in flour so that you can roll it out - the outside of the rope is dry, but the inside remains gooey)
- cut into quarter-sized pieces
- add gnocchi to large pot of salted boiling water, and remove as soon as they begin to float
- you can serve immediately, but we have found that overnight refrigeration really helps get the right texture (we have no idea why this is, but hey, it's worked every time!)


Of course, the butternut squash gnocchi themselves are only half the story. The part that makes this a crave-worthy dish is the pumpkin brown butter sauce (pumpkin butter, butter, cream, Parmesean cheese) and diced apple. This sauce is probably as sweet as a savory dish can get, so the apple pieces add both some necessary tartness (we tend to use Granny Smith here) and a wonderful textural contrast to the fluffy pillows of goodness.

6 comments:

  1. these look great! i had a gnocchi disaster recently, so I am glad to see they are possible to make at home!

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  2. These look gorgeous and are making me starving! Sadly we don't have any butternut squash in the house at the moment but I will absolutely be trying this soon. LOVING the apple in the sauce.

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  3. Oh yum! Can you believe i've never made butternut squash gnocchi? This year is the year! Now i won't have to if you send some my way. :)

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  4. I am browsing for recipes using Kitchenaid pasta roller. This blog is a year old. I wonder if my comment will go through. Anyway, nice gnocchi(s).

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  5. That looks awesome. Please link up to our meatless monday and share. I'm sure that I could get my little ones to love these because they're going on our menu plan for next week!
    http://www.littlestsweetpea.com/2013/04/meatless-monday-link-up-3.html

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