Bowlful of Fall: Pumpkin Gnocchi & Wilted Kale

like my cousin, i am not a fan of pumpkin. pumpkin pie makes me suicidal. ok, not really but i don't like the stuff. i've played with pumpkin before, making a soup and challah. when i decided to make pumpkin be this month's challenge, it was my intention to celebrate the coming autumn season (even tho i lament the cold), but also to play with an ingredient i normally avoid.

i went with pumpkin gnocchi, figuring that the pumpkin flavor wouldn't be overwhelming. i know Pat already did gnocchi for the roll challenge but whatever. i also decided to incorporate another ingredient i don't usually play with: kale. tis the season, yo. the finished product turned out well, the gnocchi wasn't too pumpkin-y, the kale was mild and a perfect complement to the gnocchi. success!



Wilted Kale

for this portion of the recipe, it's my typical angry asian style of dumping whatever is in my fridge into the pan.

a bunch of kale, cleaned and rough chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
handful of shiitake mushroom, sliced
a few sprigs of thyme
olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
lemon juice

in a large pan, heat up the olive oil. add in the onions and sautee till translucent. throw in the garlic and mix around, be sure not to burn it. add in the kale and maybe a splashful of water. i pulled some thyme leaves off the stem and added that too. i cooked this for about 20 minutes, or until i finished making the gnocchi, making sure to add a spoonful of water every now and again. at the last minute, i threw in the mushrooms.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin, either fresh or from a can
1 large egg yolk
12 Tbl flour, i divied it up 6 AP, 6 Whole Wheat

mix together the pumpkin puree and egg yolk in a medium sized bowl. add half the flour until incorporated. slowly add the rest of the flour, by tablespoon, until a dough forms. on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for a few minutes. if the dough is still too sticky, add more flour, but a little at a time. when it doesn't stick to everything anymore, divide the dough into four balls. roll them out, into snake-like formations. with a dough cutter, (i don't have one, i used my pizza cutter), cut out little 1-2" pieces. i've seen gnocchi with cute indentions and whatever on them. i wasn't interested in that, i was hungry...

to cook the gnocchi, bring a pot of water to boil. add about a tablespoon of salt. cook the gnocchi in batches. when they're first put into the pot, they sink right to the bottom but when they're cooked, they float up to the surface. easy.

add to the pan of kale and allow to mix thru.

to serve, i added a splash of lemon juice. separately, the kale came out great, i would've been happy to nibble on it sans gnocchi, which turned out nice too. but together, it was lovely. just like autumn in a bowl.

Go Go Gnocchi!

I've actually only recently come to enjoy gnocchi, and that's to say it's only been about 6-8 months. Not sure if I didn't get enough exposure, or it was a texture thing, but I wasn't a fan. I figured I would take a stab at actually making this at home, thought it was more complicated than it actually, time consuming on the other hand.

For this month's rolled challenge, I decided to make spinach potato gnocchi, with fresh mozzarella and garlic basil red sauce (instead of a white sauce). I've had for the most part plain potato gnocchi, it's usually spinach ravioli's, so I thought to add in finely chopped spinach into the dough.

(4) russet potatoes
(1) teaspoon salt
(1/2) teasppon baking powder
(2) egg yolks
(1 1/2 cup flour)
half package of spinach
fresh mozzarella
(1) large sweet onion
(2) small cans tomato paste
(8) cloves of garlic
bunch of basil
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

Slice onion and saute slightly, adding in salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic cloves. Add in tomato paste and 2 cups of water, let simmer until paste dissolves. Add in a large bunch of the basil leaves, let simmer on low.

Bake potatoes in a 400 degree oven for 1.5 hours, uncovered. Very finely chop spinach, saute with some olive oil until wilted. Remove potatoes and peel while hot. Take peeled potatoes and run through a potato ricer, or if you don't have a ricer, use a finer grater (that's what I used). Add in salt, baking powder, egg yolks, and spinach. Using your hands, slowly mix in flour a bit at a time to incorporate, until you have a dough. You may need a bit more than 1 1/2 cup of flour.



Take a bit of dough, place onto a flat floured surface and roll out into 1/2 inch thick rope. Cut into 1-inch pieces and then roll down a gnocchi board (and if you don't have a gnocchi board, roll with fingers and use a fork) to create indentations.



Bring water to boil with a bit of salt, drop in gnocchi about a dozen at a time and when they rise to the top of the water, they're done, should be 2-3 mins max.

Plate with fresh mozzarella, sauce and a bit of extra basil