There are moments in our life that stand out because we make promises to ourselves and say:
One day…
Then there are moments in our life that also stand out because we say to ourselves:
Never ever…
In 2002 I was visiting my husband in New York and we decided to have dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with his schoolmates. I forget the name of the restaurant but will never forget reading the menu and feeling a sense of anxiety. For one thing, everything seemed so expensive compared what I was used to, so I decided to order a pasta dish which seemed cheaper than having a main. My cause for distress was from wanting to order something I’d never heard of before, the Pumpkin Gnocchi.
“What the hell is gnocchi?” I thought to myself. I realized I had an even bigger problem – how was I going to order this dish when I didn’t know how to pronounce gnocchi? Was it Guh-noki?, Nyo-chi? I wasn’t too sure and in front of seemingly more sophisticated New Yorkers I was too embarrassed to ask the waiter what was pumpkin gnocchi and even more embarrassed to order Guh-noki (my first guess) out loud. So when the waiter came to take my order I simply pointed at the gnocchi dish and said “I’ll have this one.”
This was my “One Day” moment. I said to myself: “one day” I’ll be able to go to restaurants and be confident about what I’m ordering, never feel ashamed if I don’t know how to pronounce a dish or feel embarrassed to ask what’s in a dish.
I tell you as well, they were just the most tasty morsels of pumpkin I’d ever tried. Think pillows of pumpkin, a hint of cheese, browned butter and crispy sage leaves.
And that was my “Never Ever” moment. I “never ever” thought that I could one day make pumpkin gnocchi.
A few years later I realized that particular “one day” moment had been resolved. It never bothers me now to question waiters about dishes: what’s in the dish, where produce is sourced, how the dish is cooked and even, how do you pronounce the dish.
And last week was the end to my “never ever” moment… at least for pumpkin gnocchi.
Pumpkin Gnocchi
- 1 Kent Pumpkin, when cut and peeled around 500 grams
- 1 egg
- 150 grams flour (more for dusting the board)
- Freshly ground nutmeg
- 30 grams grated parmesan cheese
- 10 sage leaves, picked
- 50 grams butter, unsalted
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a large steamer, steam the pumpkin until soft, around 25 minutes. If the pumpkin feels a bit wet, dry it out a bit by placing it in a large pan over a low heat to remove some excess moisture.
- Use a potato ricer to mash the pumpkin in a large bowl then add the egg, flour, nutmeg and parmesan cheese (add some salt and pepper to taste). Using a fork, mix the ingredients together, the mass will look quite sticky. You can add more flour at this point but doing so will make the mixture much more dense and heavy which is not what you want. Remember also to handle the dough as little as possible.
- Flour a wooden board and line a tray with baking paper. With floured hands, take a large tablespoon of the gnocchi mixture and roll this into a ball and place it on the baking tray. If you want to shape the gnocchi, use a gnocchi paddle or apply some pressure to the gnocchi balls using the back of a fork.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and then lower the heat to a medium boil. Drop the gnocchi pieces and let cook until they start floating to the top. Remove from the water and place on some kitchen paper to absorb the water. Keep warm.
- For the sauce, heat the butter until nicely browned and it smells nutty, then add the sage leaves. Pour the browned butter sauce and sage leaves over the gnocchi and serve immediately.
[…] recipe is inspired by two others I found online – Closet Cooking and Trissalicious – both of which had beautiful photos of their versions of the little dumplings. And I added […]
anyway to translate into “American” measurements?? I have make homemade gnocchi on my list of things to do and these look amazing!!!!
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Absolutely delish! I am looking forward to cooking this one day. Thanks trissa
great post and great dish, trissa! i’m always so proud of myself when i know how to properly pronounce a tricky word. 🙂
Oooooh,…Waw,…Trissa! Your home made pumpkin gnocchi look truly appetizing!!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,..lovely & fab food too!
Love it ! I made a big batch with butternut squash, and freeze them. I’ll try pumpkin next. Thanks Trissa !
The way you describe it, I’m kicking myself for never having tasted gnocchi before. I’ve vaguely known what it was but it’s just never seemed that interesting…until now. This just jumped way high on the to-make recipes list.
How far you’ve come Trissa dear 🙂
These little pillows look perfect, I wish I had some for my Friday night pigout dinner!
Haha I’ve totally had those moments before. =) You sure have come a long way! Your gnocchi looks absolutely delicious!
I have been the same situation countless times. What I have learnt Trissa, is to have the confidence to ask the waiter – ‘how do you pronounce this?’ 🙂
Yum! I remember the first time I pronounced Gnocchi. It was in an italian restaurant my brother worked in and we always went there. I was only 10 and I pronounced it noo-ki much to the amusement of every adult at the table! Embarrassing!
P.S: Can you just mash it with a potato masher? My kitchen in London isn’t kitted out well, but I would really like to make this!
Hi Jaime – you sure can!
Cheers, Trissa!
This will be my next challenge! Love home-made potato gnocchi, I’m sure pumpkin would be great too!
Wonderful. I remember ordering my first gnocchi at a restaurant in Auckland. Know if it’s on a menu I always order it.
When I first read your title, I thought you were going to talk about how the “one days” = “never”. I think it’s true for some things that are put on the back burner long enough so they never happen.
I enjoyed this post. Honesty about not knowing what’s on a menu wins my respect more than pretending otherwise. Maybe it’s because I’m like you and I would ask also.
So this beautiful pumpkin gnocchi is on my “one day” list for I’ve never made them. Thanks for making the process seem so easy that they wouldn’t go in the “never ever” category. 🙂
Looks lovely Trissa!
What a great story and a great looking dish! I will certainly be trying it this weekend.
Trissa. I love how you lead in with an interesting story! Gnocchi is not only hard to pronounce but tricky to make as well. I love what you have produced here! I’m drooling chica!
I imagine this makes enough for 2? Am I right. The recipe is definitely a winner and I cannot wait to try it!
🙂
Story is too!
Valerie
Yes Val! Two very hungry people as a main! I had this with my husband and there were no leftovers! )
Trissa, that’s the dish I’ve said to myself to make at home after making the first gnocchi in my life. That’s the international gnocchi party hosted by Penny. Oh my, I’ve forgot it. Now, your post reminds me of cooking this dish ASAP. Otherwise, I’ll forget it again.
These are beautiful! I just posted a recipe for these last week, although I have to admit that your ridged ones look much fancier. Aren’t they heaven in a bite? I love them and they are so much quicker and easy than you would think, a great dish to impress!
Looks WOW! love the photo too 🙂
I’ve never cooked gnocchi, but I allways order them at restaurant (last time two days ago in Paris with “boeuf bourguignon”)… Yours are surely delicious!!!
my husband & I have a running joke about gnocchi, we pronounce it guh-no-chi in public (esp in Italian restaurant) to see if we get a reaction from people. hehe
Never had pumpkin gnocchi but I love pumpkin so I bet I would love this.
I love your story, and i can relate. Sometimes I look back and I feel so happy at how far I’ve come in so many ways. I’ve tried gnocci, of course, but never pumpkin. It looks completely delicious daaaahling. What time should i arrive for dinner?
*kisses* HH
your gnocchi is so well made! Yum… I might have to make some this weekend
awww i love your stories trissa! and yum i do love gnocchi!
Oh! you do so tempt!!! me to take a flight right across the world!!! Love love this combination!
OOoooo I love pumpkin and I love Gnocchi!! what an excellent combo!! will definately be book marking this one!
What a fabulous dish. So simple but so full of flavour. I’ve bookmarked this to make when my boyfriend gets home from his work trip….in fact, it might be the welcome home dish. Thanks for the beautiful recipe.
By the way, I love your photos. So beautiful.
Another scrumptious Italian dish that I need to bookmark for future use… so many recipes and so little time.
Looks superb, well done 😀
Yep…., Pumpkin Gnocchi is delicious… and once you’ve dived in and made a batch & got the old gnocchi touch…, you’ll never buy bought stuff again. These look really good too., great pic.
OOhh! Yummy!
I get so anxious over ordering stuff I’m not sure how to pronounce in restaurants. Actually, scratch that – I get anxious just ordering in general. I remember pronouncing “skillet” as “skill-lay” one fine morning and having the waitress giggle at me. Oh jeeze.
Anyway, gnocchi are wonderful, but definitely hard to pronounce 😛
Well done, Trissa! You have come a long way. Is there anything you can’t cook?
I always order gnocchi if it’s on the menu, though the first time, I waited until my companion had ordered it and got the pronunciation right first!
That pumpkin gnocchi looks so good, and I love that you have a proper wooden paddle, too.
This has to be one of my alltime favourites. Yours looks so beautifully crafted and the photo’s just make me want to jump in!
Going to try this one, but think I woulds like to make a ravioli out of the ingredients as well! Thanks
I must admit I have never attempted to make gnocchi. This will be added to my One Day list. I love burnt butter and sage. Your gnocchi looks delicious Trissa.