I kneaded the potato and hazelnut gnocchi with organic spelt flour, mountain potatoes, and hazelnut flour. I dressed them with a cream of oven-cooked Delica pumpkin, enriched with a tablespoon of cream. Then I finished with a touch of coffee, which makes this simple recipe truly original. In fact, the balance of flavors is perfect: the hazelnut and spelt complement each other perfectly and contrast the sweetness of the pumpkin. The roasted notes of the coffee and its enveloping flavor finally offer an unexpected pleasure.
Below you will find:
• Ingredients
• Necessary Tools
• Preparation
• The DivinMangiando Project
• The Queen’s Secrets
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Steaming, Oven, Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
For this recipe, I used Pe Fe Coffee Gel, the latest innovation from this artisanal roastery in Tuscia. I chose the spicy variety, and I recommend dusting the finished dish with coffee powder, preferably freshly ground, to enhance the flavor.
- 28 oz potatoes (Organic, waxy)
- 3.5 oz toasted hazelnuts (ground into flour)
- 1.5 cups Einkorn spelt flour (organic)
- 0.35 cups re-milled durum wheat semolina (as needed for the work surface)
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 17.6 oz Delica pumpkin (pulp, oven-cooked)
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 3 tbsps whipping cream
- 1 tsp rosemary (fresh, finely chopped)
- 1 package spicy coffee gel
- 1 tbsp coffee powder (only as needed for a light dusting)
- 0.35 oz hazelnuts (coarsely crumbled)
Tools
To prepare these gnocchi, I used:
• Pressure cooker with a steel steam basket, for cooking potatoes
• Potato ricer
• Work surface for kneading
• Wooden gnocchi board, which can be replaced with a fork
• Immersion blender for pureeing the pumpkin
• Seed grinder to make hazelnut flour
Let’s Cook
To make excellent gnocchi, you need to choose good quality waxy potatoes. I used organic potatoes from Tuscia.
Remember to cook the pumpkin in advance, so it’s ready to use. I cook the whole pumpkin with the skin on, after washing it. I bake it at 356°F for at least an hour. When it feels soft, I turn off the oven and let it cool. Then I remove the skin and seeds and use the pulp for various preparations.
First, wash the potatoes thoroughly and place them whole in the pressure cooker with the steel basket so they cook with steam. Let them cook for 12 minutes from the whistle, lowering the heat, then vent the cooker and open the lid. Then let the potatoes cool briefly.
While the potatoes are cooking, we can grind the hazelnuts into flour.
Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer without removing the skin, forming a mound on the work surface. Wait until the potatoes are almost completely cold and the steam has fully evaporated. Then add a pinch of salt, the hazelnut flour, and a third of the spelt flour. Knead with a fork or with your hands, and add another portion of flour, but not all of it.
The dough will gradually take shape, and we will realize how much flour is needed to achieve a compact, soft, and dry mass. When the dough no longer sticks to your hands or the work surface, you have added enough flour.
Flour measurements are often indicative; the actual amount depends on the potatoes. Spelt flour is perfect for gnocchi, as it is highly proteinaceous and has an intense and decisive taste.
Clean the work surface of dough scraps carefully, without using water, but only with a spatula or the back of a knife. Then dust it with plenty of durum wheat semolina, which prevents the dough from sticking and keeps the gnocchi well separated from each other.
Cut a portion of dough, form a rope on the floured surface, and cut into small pieces of about one centimeter. Then roll them on a wooden gnocchi board or a fork, using the thumb of your right hand. The gnocchi will have a concave belly and a ridged back, perfect for holding the sauce.
Continue the same procedure until the dough is completely used up and keep the gnocchi generously floured with semolina and well separated.
Assume the pumpkin has already been cooked in the oven. This can be done in advance, greatly easing the work. While preparing the sauce, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Pour the pumpkin pulp into a tall glass, with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary. Blend with an immersion blender until a smooth, tasty, and homogeneous cream is obtained. Then thin out with the cream, still blending, until reaching the desired consistency. About 3 tablespoons will be needed.
Prepare four shallow bowls with a few tablespoons of warm pumpkin cream at the bottom.
Gently place the gnocchi in the boiling salted water. At the first boil, the gnocchi will float to the top, already cooked. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and divide them among the four bowls, so the pumpkin cream embraces them. Finish with a few drops of coffee gel, a light dusting of freshly ground coffee, and some crumbled hazelnuts for crunch.
Serve the hazelnut gnocchi with pumpkin and coffee cream, even a rustic plating will work for this autumn-flavored dish.
Divin Mangiando Challenge on Tour
The DivinMangiando is an event linked to the DivinEtrusco that takes place in Tarquinia for several years now. It is a culinary competition where cooks from different parts of Italy compete, preparing a recipe with Tuscia products, provided by excellent local producers and farms. The mind and heart of this culinary challenge is Vittoria Tassoni, a superb cook passionately in love with her land but, above all, a cultured, eclectic, and curious woman, aware that typical products are often the ambassadors of the territory in the world. This year, DivinMangiando continues, thanks to the partnership of Italian Food Blogger Association. Ten food bloggers will compete again with recipes made with Tuscia products, the same ones from the 2023 edition of DivinMangiando. The goal is to interpret and narrate the excellences of Tuscia, to spread their knowledge.
My hazelnut gnocchi are one of the ten recipes competing in the #DivinMangiando Challenge on Tour 2024 and to prepare them I used:
• Organic potatoes from The Cradle Farm. By Giulia Maggini
• Organic Einkorn spelt flour from The Turchina Farm
• Pe-Fe Coffee Gel, a new product made naturally by Pe-Fe Roastery
For DivinMangiando on Tour 2025, I instead prepared a Fried Ravioli with Liquid Tomato, with rhubarb compote, honey, and kiwi n°2 vinegar pearls, which cuts through and refreshes.
The Queen’s Secrets
Many people add eggs to gnocchi; I never do because, in my opinion, they turn out well without it, and they remain softer.
The secret is to choose the right potatoes and let them decide how much flour to take. So remember, waxy potatoes are recommended, mountain ones, in general, are perfect.
I chose spelt flour, which has excellent nutritional properties; high mineral and protein content. It is not suitable for leavened products, unless mixed with other flours, because it has a low gluten network, but it is suitable for gnocchi because it doesn’t make them rubbery. Moreover, its taste perfectly matches that of the toasted hazelnuts I chose to use in this recipe.
Hazelnuts will be much more tasty and fragrant after a light toasting. Be careful not to burn them, or everything will have to be redone.
Pumpkin and coffee are the perfect combination. We would all gladly make a cake with these ingredients. Instead, let me reveal a secret: they are also good together in savory recipes; I know because before these gnocchi with pumpkin and coffee, I had already made an excellent risotto. Try it to believe it…
