Squash Recipe #2: Squash Gnocchi

Yesterday I made my second squash recipe to share with you.  It's one I came across somewhere, thought it sounded good, and scribbled down.  When I say scribbled down, I mean I cut out all but the pertinent facts like measurements, temperatures and cooking times.  So if it seems to assume you know a lot about cooking, well, I scribbled it down for me and after 20+ years of cooking daily, I do know a lot about cooking.

If you don't know what a 'gnocchi' is, it's basically a type of dumpling; that is, flour and seasonings with a little liquid to bind them together, and then boiled until cooked through.  And it's apparently pronounced "nyawki", even though I always want to say "notchee".

I'll warn you, it's not a quick recipe to make even though the gnocchi cook fast.  I do however, think it could be partially made in advance, and then cooked later in the day or the next day, which I might try next time I make this particular recipe.  Because I will definitely make it again.  I liked it, even if DH isn't fond of dumplings.

Squash Gnocchi
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled, and boiled until tender
1 cup squash cooked and pureed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I buy mine in wedges and fresh grate it)
1 egg
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pepper
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour (or more)

Mash the cooked potatoes, then let them cool.  When cool, mix in the squash and all remaining ingredients except the flour.  Add the flour about 1/3 cup at a time until dough is smooth and sticky (mine was pretty sticky, consider yourself forewarned!).  Briefly knead dough in bowl until the flour is mixed well.

Put a pot of salted water on to boil.  While the water is heating, divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 1/2" in diameter.  (Mine was fat, more like 3/4 to an inch in dia.  I was exceeding the time I'd allotted and having trouble rolling thinner.)  Cut into 1/2" pieces. Press back of fork into each piece to make shallow grooves.

Add the pieces (I did about 2 'ropes' worth at a time) to the boiling water.  Stir gently so they don't stick to each other when you first put them in the pot. Then leave alone until the pieces rise to the top of the water.  Once they float, boil them about 3 minutes more.  Remove with a slotted spoon, and put into serving dish while cooking the remaining dough pieces.

Serve with sauce.

I made a basic white sauce to go with mine (1/4 cup butter, melted; 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 cup or so of milk) and stirred in fresh grated Romano cheese (about 1/3 cup) until the cheese was melted, then poured it over the gnocchi in the serving dish.

gnocchi before I added the sauce

(not sure why this picture turned out so yellow, they aren't quite that brightly colored)