Pumpkin Gnocchi Fried in Sage Butter - Recipe by Letitia Clark

Ingredients

1 kg delica pumpkin
Salt
Olive oil
1 egg yolk
40 g grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
A scrape or two of lemon zest (optional but I like it – it offsets the sweetness of the pumpkin)
A few scrapings of nutmeg
100 g-150 g plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

To serve:

80 g butter
A few sage leaves
Squeeze of lemon juice
Grated roasted hazelnuts/walnuts (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Cut the pumpkin into six wedges and discard the seeds (no need to peel). Place on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle over a little olive oil, cover with foil and roast for around 30 minutes until just beginning to soften. Remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes or so until completely tender and just beginning to colour at the edges.

Remove from the oven. Once cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh into a bowl. Mash it well with a fork until smooth and leave to cool.

Once cool, add the egg yolk and the cheese, then the lemon zest and nutmeg and taste for seasoning, adjusting accordingly. They need to be generously seasoned. Add the flour, starting with 100 g initially and only adding more if you think it is needed. Mix gently until you have a dough that is soft but not too sticky to handle (the consistency of mashed potato). Flour your work surface and shape the dough into fat sausages, about 2.5 cm wide. Cut each sausage into 2.5 cm nuggets and set aside on a floured tray/work surface/board.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and plop the gnocchi in. After a couple of minutes, when they bob to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, tossing occasionally to ensure they don’t stick together (at this point you can toss them with olive oil and store them in the refrigerator for later, if you like).

Warm the butter in a sauté pan and add the sage leaves, then add the gnocchi and sauté until just beginning to brown. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice, then serve with some grated Parmesan or grated roasted hazelnuts/walnuts.

Credits: This is an edited extract from Wild Figs and Fennel by Letitia Clark, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally. Photography by Charlotte Bland and Letitia Clark. RRP $55.

Photo Credits: This is an edited extract from Wild Figs and Fennel by Letitia Clark, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally. Photography by Charlotte Bland and Letitia Clark. RRP $55.