Butternut squash Gnocchi(recipe included)

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

1 butternut squash
2-4 cups flour, mix of wheat and white in 2 parts wheat to 3 parts white proportions.
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
oil to brush the squash before roasting



Sage Butter Sauce

4 tablespoons butter
15-20 fresh sage leaves, left whole

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Halve the butternut squash lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and strings. lightly brush the cut sides of the squash with oil and roast face down on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes to an hour, until the flesh of the squash is very soft, and yields to a spoon.

Turn off the oven, remove the squash, and let it cool. Scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl, descarding the shell of the squash.

Mash the squash in the bowl. If it's still warm, cover and let cool until it reaches room temperature.

Beat two eggs lightly. Mash the squash with a potato masher or blend it in a blender until any chunks are broken up and you have a relatively smooth puree. Add the eggs to the mashed squash and mix well.

Set out a sheet of aluminum foil on a side work surface, and put a large pot of water on to boil. You may salt the water if you like. Flour your main work surface lightly.

Add one cup of white flour to the squash and eggs and mix well. If the mix is still very loose or extremely sticky, add 2/3 cup wheat flour and mix it in. Add a little white flour then a little wheat flour until you have something like a slightly sticky dough. This may take much more flour than you think it should. I was personally very surprised, but I guess mashed butternut squash is somewhat moister than mashed potatoes.

Take a golf ball sized chunk of dough and roll it out into a snake. The snake should be a little larger around than your thumb (or about the size of my thumb). Use a butter knife (so you get a little "mashing" on the ends of the pieces) and cut 1" long gnocchi from the snake. Place them on the aluminum foil separated so they don't clump together. If you wish, you can roll the gnocchi against a fork to get the traditional marks on them, that helps them hold onto the sauce. After you've done a couple of snakes, start to cook the gnocchi while you finish forming the rest.

Once the water is boiling, toss the gnocchi into the pot. They should sink to the bottom. Give the pot one stir to keep the gnocchi from sticking together or to the bottom and wait. When the gnocchi are done, they should float up to the top where you can take them out with a slotted spoon.

Repeat with the rest of the dough until all the gnocchi are cooked.

 

I love gnocchi, thanks for posting the recipe!