Pumpkin Gnocchi
(serves 4-6)
300g Pumpkin - a flavoursome variety, ideally, but a basic bitch one will do, as well
700g Floury Potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edwards!)
Zest of 1 Orange (Unwaxed or Gently Scrubbed)
500g Tipo 00 flour
Flaky sea salt
Roast your pumpkin & potatoes- depending on size, either halved, or quartered for a particularly brutish pumpkin. They can sit happily in an oven that's doing other things, so long as it's not above 200.
Once they're all tender (timings depend largely on the water content of said pumpkin, which can vary wildly) scoop out their flesh, or push through a fine mesh sieve. Ideally you want to get this as smooth as possible- a dough scraper or sturdier rubber spatula can help.
Add the flour in batches, with a pinch of salt and your orange zest, and knead on a well-floured surface until it comes together. Tease it into long sausages; you're looking for a girth of about two centimetres, give or take.
Cut these into bite-sized nuggets- about 2.5 cm- they should look like plump, starchy pillows. You can gently roll them across the tines on a fork if you feel inclined- it will help sauce stick to them more generously, which is always a good thing.
Bring a pan of well-salted (as the sea) water to the boil, before dropping them in - in batches if necessary. They'll bob joyfully to the top to let you know they're done. You can either then remove them with a slotted spoon and plunge into an ice bath, which will give you 2-3 days to use them, or throw them straight into a pan once drained.
What you throw them into is where the fun comes in- good butter, browned off with some sage leaves, and a healthy garnish of hazelnut and pecorino cheese is a lovely idea. Or a pokey blue cheese, emulsified with a ladle or two of your starchy potato water and spiked with some torn radicchio at the last moment, with a shower of parsley for iron and colour? Also top tier. These beauties are also a winner with veg-avoidant children. The pumpkin counts towards some daily nutrition values, and a simple tomato sauce nails it.
Happy pumpkin picking, carving, roasting, eating