Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Hearty yet tender dumplings packed with the nutritional goodness of butternut squash and drenched in a buttery sage sauce.

I confess that I have never made gnocchi from scratch before. I was actually a little intimidated by this recipe as a result. But when I read through the recipe instructions in the Mad Hungry Family cookbook, it seemed really doable so I decided to give it a shot!

The cookbook is perfect for people like me, who are home cooks without formal culinary training. The instructions are written so clearly that even beginners can easily produce wonderful dishes.

Lucinda Scala Quinn, the author, definitely has experience cooking for a hungry family on a budget, as she learned to be resourceful and smart about her recipes in order to feed her three growing boys! Since I myself am a mom of two teenage boys, I can totally relate to that!

By following the instructions, I was able to roll gnocchi dumplings using a table fork. They weren’t perfect, but my technique increasingly improved, and by the end my gnocchi were looking much prettier.

As far as how the dish went over with the family, it was a big hit! I wasn’t completely sure that Thing 2 would appreciate the sage butter, as sage is not a flavor I have often used, but he loved it and happily gobbled up a second serving.

Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter

Print Recipe

This recipe came into being when the calamitous Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast and grocery shopping was all but impossible in my neighborhood. A butternut squash that had been sitting around on the counter came in handy, especially since all that’s needed to make gnocchi (besides squash or potatoes) is some flour and salt. Sage was growing outside and there was butter in the freezer.

CourseEntree

CuisineItalian

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time1 hr

Servings4 -6

Ingredients

• 1 winter squash (such as butternut or acorn, quartered and seeded (about 2 pounds))
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more as needed)
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt (plus more as needed)
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 5 sprigs fresh sage (leaves removed)
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the squash in a baking dish along with 1⁄4 inch of water. Cover with foil and bake until soft throughout, about 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skin into a large bowl, mash it until smooth, and let cool (this is important because hot squash sucks up flour, which makes for leaden gnocchi).
• Whisk together the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the cooled squash, using your hands to combine completely, until the dough pulls away from your hands in a soft mass. Add more flour as necessary to achieve the desired consistency (which should resemble a rough pizza dough).
• Sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface. Separate the dough into several pieces and roll each into a log the size and shape of a large cigar. Cut each “cigar” into 1-inch pieces. To form the gnocchi, dip a fork in flour, and then place the tines on top of a piece of dough. Applying medium pressure, gently roll the gnocchi toward you with the fork, releasing pressure gradually as you roll, until it is completely rolled off the tines (repeatedly flour the fork to prevent sticking). Repeat with each piece of dough, placing the finished gnocchi on a floured baking sheet. (You can use your thumb instead of a fork if desired.) The gnocchi should resemble tiny footballs with a cup in the center.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When it boils, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and swirl in the butter. Add the sage leaves and cook until lightly crisp. Stir to coat them in butter. Meanwhile, drop about 8 gnocchi into the boiling water at a time and cook until they float to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and add directly to the sage butter. Toss to coat the gnocchi in the butter. Repeat the process with the remaining gnocchi. Add up to 1⁄2 cup of the gnocchi cooking water to the sage butter to make a pan sauce. Serve in shallow bowls, spooning some sage butter sauce over each serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan and a couple grinds of black pepper.

Notes

Recipe used with permission from Workman Publishing Company.

Nutrition

Calories: 634kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1751mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 28.9% | Calcium: 2.3% | Iron: 16.1%

Sponsored by Workman Publishing, our #WeekdaySupper event features Mad Hungry Family by Lucinda Scala Quinn. I really love that this cookbook is directed towards busy families, with simple yet delicious recipes and lots of tips and tricks for saving time and getting great results. This book is sort of like a survival guide for us scrappy home cooks who sometimes need to pull together a plan at the last minute. Lucinda Scala Quinn certainly has a wealth of experience to draw upon; some of her credentials include having her own line of kitchenware on QVC called Mad Hungry Kitchenware, working as a senior vice president and executive editorial director of food and entertaining at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and hosting her own television show, Mad Hungry: Bringing Back the Family Meal.

Make sure you check out this interview with Lucinda

You can find out more about Workman Publishing on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

You can win a copy of the book for yourself, just enter via the Rafflecopter form below. We will be giving away 10 copies of the book, so don’t wait, enter now!

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Or if you just can’t wait, you can order the Mad Hungry Family book from Amazon (affiliate link)!

Would you like to see what other amazing dishes you can make? Check out a few more recipes from the Mad Hungry Family cookbook!

Week One

Straight-Talk Turkey – Family Foodie
HamJam Cheddar Puffs – Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
Chocolate Hazelnut Orange Potstickers – Grumpy’s Honeybunch
Squash Gnocchi with Sage Butter – Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Thanksgiving Leftover Pie – Meal Planning Magic

Week Two

Fig and Pancetta Stuffing – My Life Cookbook
Yorkshire Pudding – A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Buttery Spiced Poached Pears – April Golightly
Upside-down Apple Tart – Alida’s Kitchen
Princely Potatoes – Crazed Mom

This post is sponsored by Workman Publishing Company in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own.

Affiliate links have been used to link to items I discuss in this post.

Enjoy!

 

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