It’s pumpkin time, and today I want to talk about it by presenting my gnocchi made with a dough based on durum wheat semolina and pumpkin, topped with mushroom béchamel. The pumpkin is a vegetable that can be used and cooked in many different ways. There are several types. Not having the “Mantovana” type pumpkin available, which is drier and therefore more suitable for making gnocchi, I used the typical one from my area, the “lunga” from Naples, but I still achieved an excellent result and managed to prepare very soft gnocchi, which maintained both cooking in water and in the oven, without falling apart. This is just one of the ways to enjoy this wonder of nature. It’s a preparation suitable for Sunday lunch, colorful, cheerful, and not excessively heavy. The pumpkin, béchamel, and 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: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 28 oz Pumpkin pulp
- 2.5 cups Remilled durum wheat semolina
- 1 pinch Fine salt
- 3 cups Milk
- 2.5 tbsp Butter
- 5 tbsp All-purpose flour
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Pepper
- to taste Nutmeg
- 7 oz Mixed fresh or frozen mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons Grated cheese
Preparation
Let’s start by preparing the pumpkin. In a large pot, place the pumpkin cut into large pieces and cover with a little water.
Cook over low heat until the pumpkin becomes tender.Once it has become soft, drain it well and blend it.
Put the puree back in the pot (without the cooking water) and dry it over low heat for about ten minutes, stirring continuously to prevent it from sticking to the pot or burning (if using “Mantovana” type pumpkin, cut it into large pieces, place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper, halfway up, at 350°F and bake for about 30 minutes or until you notice that it is tender and dry enough to be mashed or blended).
Let’s prepare the gnocchi dough
Transfer the pumpkin puree to 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 it may take a little more or less; that’s why I recommend adding it a little at a time.
Knead with your hands until reaching the right consistency, 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.
Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms and cut them into pieces. Transfer them to a non-stick pot, over low heat, cover and let them lose part of their vegetable water (step to be done only 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 bring our béchamel to cooking.
Let’s form the gnocchi. After half an hour, sprinkle the work surface with a little flour, break off pieces from the dough and shape them into logs to cut into pieces of the same size (for even cooking). Using the back of a grater, the tines of a fork, or the special tool for grooving pasta, decorate our gnocchi with great delicacy.
Bring plenty of salted water to a boil, cook the gnocchi a few at a time until finished. Drain them very well, please.
For cooking the gnocchi you can regulate yourself as follows: as soon as they rise to the surface, taste them and if they are well cooked, even in the center, drain them; otherwise let them cook for a few more seconds (the cooking time depends on their size).Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place some mushroom béchamel on the bottom of the baking dish. When all the gnocchi are cooked, mix them well with the remaining béchamel and transfer everything to the baking dish, add some grated Parmesan cheese and into the oven, at the lowest part, for about 15/20 minutes or until a nice golden crust forms.
