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Pumpkin gnocchi and potatoes gnocchi
laPapessaGiovanna posted a blog entry in Cooking, Baking and Painting in Italia
Some time ago I made gnocchi. I love gnocchi because I can make lots of them to store in the freezer. Gnocchi are my go to meal when I want something special but I have very little time to cook. I usually make both pumpkin and potatoes gnocchi. I cut a pumpkin in pieces and cooked it in the oven for 15 minutes at 180ºC. When it cooled with a knife I separated the pulp from the skin and with a fork I mashed it. I added a pinch of salt and lots of flour. Pumpkins tend to absorb too much flour so it's better to not exaggerate otherwise the gnocchi will taste like flour not like pumpkin. Flour is the glue that combined with the water of the pumpkin keeps the gnocchi together, so you have the right dose of flour when the gnocchi don't melt when you cook them and you can't taste the flour but only the pumpkin. The resulting dough is quite sticky and generally obnoxious (that's why I make them in bulk once in a while), anyway with the help of some flour (to help control stickiness) I flattened it and cut it into strings and then into little cubes that I rolled to make little balls all of the same size (more or less). I rolled every little floury ball over the back of a fork to create the distinctive marks. I didn't take pics because this is one really dirty job and my hands were a true mess. Once done they look like this (the pumpkin's ones are those on the left). Potatoes gnocchi are done in the same way, only difference is that I steamcooked the potatoes so they retain more water and also more flour. The good thing is that potatoes stick much less so the process is easier by far. Once done gnocchi need to rest for half an hour before cooking. Meanwhile I prepared the sauces, melted cheeses ( butter, robiola, gorgonzola and cream with a pinch of pepper and nutmeg) for the potatoes gnocchi and sweet sauce (butter, half a spoon of brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon) for pumpkin gnocchi. When a big pot of salted water started boiling I threw inside a handful of gnocchi, when they came back to the surface they were ready, it takes only a couple of minutes or even less. When all the gnocchi were cooked I heated them with their sauce for a moment and then served immediately as they are good while still hot. It's a traditionally wintertime dish, the most popular version is the potatoes one but I use many other veggies too, like cabbage, carrots, spinach etc. In Verona it's mostly eaten during the Carnival when the King of the Gnocco is crowned.