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Halloween recipe

Halloween Rustic Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe

Halloween Rustic Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe

Treat yourself with these delicious Halloween Rustic Pumpkin Gnocchi with Pumpkin Seed Pesto, brought to you by Bettina’s Kitchen. Bone Appetit!

This is a great hands-on Halloween recipe that uses all of the pumpkin – flesh, seeds and all! Great fun for the entire family, this recipe makes four to six portions and can be enjoyed for more than one meal.

Halloween Rustic Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 small Kabocha pumpkin (300 g of pumpkin purée)
  • 3 big floury potatoes (around 500 g)
  • 250 g of flour
  • Salt

For the Pesto (makes a 250g jar):

  • 250 ml olive oil, plus extra for sealing
  • 120 g pumpkin seeds
  • Bunch of basil (around 30 g)
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 1/2 tablespoon each salt and black pepper

Serve with:

  • Grated macadamia nuts and fresh basil

Method
Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees. Place the pumpkin on a greaseproof piece of paper on a tray and in the oven for 60 minutes. While the pumpkin is cooking, peel and wash the potatoes and boil them until soft.

While the pumpkin and potatoes are cooking, you can make the pesto. Ideally, use a mortar and pestle and slowly incorporate every ingredient until you have a beautiful pesto base that still has some bits in it. Alternatively, you can use a blender and pulse until a chunky consistency. Store it in a glass jar and top it off with olive oil and set it aside for later.

Once potatoes and pumpkin have cooked, drain properly and leave to cool. When both are cool enough to the touch, start by opening the top of the pumpkin and scooping out the flesh and picking out the seeds. Once you have enough flesh, set it aside.

Add the drained potatoes on a work surface and start mashing with the back of a fork, once mashed add the pumpkin puree and incorporate. Once the potato and pumpkin are well incorporated then start adding the flour little by little and working the dough.

Work the flour in for five to ten minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and forms easily. You should now have a soft dough that holds together, doesn’t feel sticky and can be easily shaped.

Let the dough rest for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Once rested divide the dough into two equal pieces. Roll a piece at a time into long cylinders on a lightly floured surface, again working lightly and quickly. As you roll you will also be gently stretching the dough. Keep the surface well-floured as you don’t want the gnocchi to stick.

Cut the dough into thumbnail lengths, I like them rustic. I don’t bother to shape and pattern them, I just cook them as they are.

Bring a large, deep pot of salted water to the boil. Working with a few at a time (don’t cook more than you can cope with) drop in the gnocchi. Let them cook for 2 minutes, during which time they will pop back up to the surface, then scoop them out with a spoon and get them straight into a hot pan with olive oil.

Add some of that gorgeous pesto and a little bit of pasta water and serve immediately with some sprigs of fresh basil and grated macadamia nut for nutty flavour.