Pumpkin Gnocchi

Scrumptious pumpkin gnocchi drowned in butter and sage are eaten in Mantua, Northern Italy, during autumn when the pumpkins ripen.

1 imagine Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) devouring this dish before enchanting the influential Gonzaga family with his viol playing.

Monteverdi considered his viol playing to be 'flowers and his compositions as like 'fruit'.

For success with this recipe, you need to find a deep-orange, firm-fleshed pumpkin or squash, such as Crown Prince, the secret being to keep the pumpkin as dry as possible during cooking. Once the gnocchi are formed they can be left in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking, and they can be frozen. Gnocchi will keep for a fortnight in the freezer and then should be cooked from frozen.

SERVES 4-6

lkg squash

Salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

90g Parmesan cheese, grated

Nutmeg

150g potato flour, plus extra for dusting

90g butter

4 sprigs of sage, leaved picked and chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cut the pumpkin in half and deseed. Cut it into roughly 2.5cm-thick slices and peel. Lay them on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and roast until just soft, about 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the pumpkin or it will become watery. Leave to cool.

Once the roasted squash is cool enough to handle, press it through a potato ricer or purée it in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and leave until cold.

Mix the beaten egg and 60g of the Parmesan into the cold pumpkin. Season with salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Mix in the potato flour until you have a soft, light dough. Cover and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

Dust a work surface with potato flour and place the gnocchi mixture on top, then flatten it into a square with a thickness of about 1.75cm.

Cut this square into 1.5cm strips and roll each strip into a sausage. Cut the first sausage into 2cm lengths. (See the photo above.) Repeat with the remaining sausages.

Using a fork, press into each rectangle a little to flatten it and make attractive indentations on the top surface. Dust the gnocchi with potato flour and place them on a floured plate, ready to cook.

Half fill a large saucepan of salted water and bring it to the boil. You will need to cook the gnocchi in several batches. Carefully spoon the gnocchi into the boiling water, trying to ensure that they do not touch one another. Keep the water at simmering point. They are cooked when they rise to the surface, about 3–5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the water and keep them warm on a serving plate in the oven set to 100˚C while you cook subsequent batches.

Melt the butter and fry the sage leaves over a medium heat until crisp.

Serve the gnocchi immediately with the sage-leaf butter drizzled on top, sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan and some black pepper.