It’s pumpkin season and today I want to talk about my gnocchi made with a dough based on durum wheat semolina and pumpkin, topped with mushroom béchamel. Pumpkin is a vegetable that can be used and cooked in many different ways. There are different types of it. Not having the “Mantovana” pumpkin available, which is drier and therefore more suitable for making gnocchi, I used the typical pumpkin of my area, the “Long” from Naples, but I still achieved an excellent result and managed to prepare very soft gnocchi, which maintained both the cooking in water and in the oven, without disintegrating. This is just one way to enjoy this wonder of nature. It is a preparation suitable for Sunday lunch, colorful, cheerful and not excessively heavy. The pumpkin, the béchamel, and the gnocchi can be prepared in advance, even the day before, and then cooked and assembled into the final dish when needed.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 5 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 28 oz Pumpkin flesh
- 12 oz Remilled durum wheat semolina
- 1 pinch Fine salt
- 3 cups Milk
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 3 tbsp All-purpose flour
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Pepper
- to taste Nutmeg
- 7 oz Mixed fresh or frozen mushrooms
- 3 tbsp Grated cheese
Preparation
Let’s start by preparing the pumpkin. In a large pot, put the pumpkin cut into large pieces and cover just below the surface with a bit of water.
Cook over low heat until the pumpkin becomes tender.Once it has become soft, drain it well and blend it.
Return the puree to the pot (without the cooking water) and dry it over low heat for about ten minutes, stirring constantly to avoid sticking to the pot or burning (if using the “Mantovana” pumpkin, cut it into large pieces, place them on a baking tray with parchment paper, in the middle of the oven, at 356°F and cook for about 30 minutes or until it becomes tender and dry enough to mash or blend).
Let’s prepare the gnocchi dough
Transfer the pumpkin puree into a bowl, add a generous pinch of salt, and the semolina, a little at a time.The amount of semolina absorbed depends on the quality of the pumpkin and may require a little more or less; that’s why I recommend adding it a little at a time.
Knead with your hands until the right consistency is reached, that is, a soft dough, very easy to work with, but compact; it’s ready when it no longer sticks to your hands. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, clean the mushrooms and cut them into pieces. Transfer them to a non-stick pot, over low heat, cover and let them release some of their water (this step is only necessary if using fresh mushrooms).
Let’s prepare the béchamel as described here. After adding the cold milk to the butter and flour roux, add the mushrooms, salt, nutmeg, and finish cooking our béchamel.
Let’s form the gnocchi. After half an hour, dust the work surface with a little flour, break off pieces from the dough and roll them into rods to cut into small pieces of the same size (for uniform cooking). Using the back of a grater, the tines of a fork, or the special tool for ridging pasta, gently decorate our gnocchi.
Bring plenty of salted water to a boil, cook the gnocchi a few at a time, until all are finished. Drain them very well, I recommend.
For cooking the gnocchi, you can proceed this way: as soon as they rise to the surface, taste them and if they are well cooked, even in the center, drain them; otherwise, leave them for a few more seconds (cooking time depends on their size).
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put some mushroom béchamel on the bottom of the dish. When all the gnocchi are cooked, mix them well with the remaining béchamel and transfer everything into the baking dish, add some grated Parmesan and bake, on the lower part of the oven, for about 15/20 minutes or until a nice golden crust forms.
