Pumpkin Gnocchi with Creamy Gorgonzola Cider Sauce (Bonus: Baked Pumpkin Seeds!)

So, it's fall, and time for everyone to carve up the harvest of the season and put it on their porch to rot. Unless you're us, of course, in which case you add pumpkin to nearly every dish for about two months or so. Our first endeavor this season started over at Saveur, whose Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce provided the genesis for this recipe.



Note: you will have to roast the pumpkin for about an hour and let it cool enough to handle. However, the gnocchi dough can be made in advance; just plan appropriately.

For the gnocchi:

1 small (about the size of a cantaloupe) pumpkin, quartered, seeds removed (but you can use any fall squash, really)
Salt to taste, also to salt the gnocchi water
1-3 cups flour*
2 eggs, lightly beaten

(*you will need more or less flour depending on the water content of your squash or pumpkin)

For the sauce:

1 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 oz (3/4 cup, packed) fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup hard dry cider (like Strongbow or Crispin Brown Lane)
1/2 cup milk (you can use cream if you want a thicker sauce)
2 Tbsp crumbled gorgonzola, plus more to garnish
2 Tbsp chopped green onions to garnish (optional)
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of white pepper
dash of soy sauce (optional)
fresh ground pepper to taste

Quarter the pumpkin, remove the stem, scrape out the seeds and set aside (because obviously you're going to make baked pumpkin seeds). Put the pumpkin quarters on an oiled baking sheet (olive oil works just fine) and roast at 375 degrees for about an hour, or until easily pierced by a fork.

Let it cool (or put it in the fridge to speed the process) until it can be handled. Alternatively, grow asbestos hands. Peel the outer skin and then mash the pumpkin into a smooth puree, adding the cinnamon and white pepper to taste. You can also put the whole shebang a food processor if you aren't cantankerous asshats like we are.

Get a big pot of lightly salted water and get it boiling!

Add the beaten eggs to the puree and mix (this is another good reason that the pumpkin needs to cool before moving ahead with the recipe). Add a cup of flour and mix well. Depending on the water content and size of your pumpkin or squash, you might end up adding more flour. What you're looking for is a thick, soft, still mildly sticky dough. We floured our hands and rolled it into balls. Make them about an inch in diameter, but obviously it's fine if they're of varying sizes, as is obvious by looking at ours:

Note: if you aren't going to cook these right away, you might put them on parchment paper and stick them in the fridge until right before cooking, as letting them sit out at room temperature can make them stickier and more difficult to dislodge from the plate.

Alternatively, you can use a pastry bag if you have one, and pipe the dough in pieces into the boiling water. A Ziploc bag is a good substitute; you can put the dough in the bag, squeeze out the air and cut off one of the bottom corners, making a hole about 1/2" in diameter, then use it just like you would a pastry bag. Take a butter knife and cut the pieces as they emerge from the hole. You'll want to make them about an inch long, like little sticky pillows for giant ants (or baby mice, or mice/ant hybrids).

Once your water's at a rapid boil, drop 'em in, whatever method you're using. They will sink to the bottom at first, but rise as they cook. Once they've all risen, give them another two minutes or so until they are firm. Strain them, and they'll look like this:

DON'T PANIC! YES THEY'RE UGLY. WE WILL BE COVERING THEM IN SAUCE AND GARNISH AND STUFF!

For the sauce, put the garlic, mushrooms, cider and soy sauce (if using) in a saucepan and bring to a boil, uncovered.

Cook down until the cider is gone. It'll look like this:

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the butter and a few grinds of pepper to taste. Saute until butter melts, then add the milk (or cream).

Stir continuously, being sure to scrape the bottom to get all the fond (that's the good bits that get cooked onto the pan) up and into that sauce! Continue stirring until almost simmering. DO NOT LET IT BOIL.

Add the gorgonzola and stir until melted. Your sauce will thicken a bit. It should be thicker than cream but not as thick as gravy. If you want it thicker, you can make a mixture of 1 tsp corn starch and 2 tsp cold milk, combined until smooth, and added to the sauce once removed from the heat. Alternatively, you can make a roux to thicken it.

Divide your gnocchi into serving bowls and add your gorgonzola sauce, then garnish with MOAR GORGONZOLA and green onions, and if you're feeling extra fancy, add a tablespoon of hard cider just before serving. Here's your result:

Okay, that's great and all, but let's get to some real shit, namely the pumpkin seeds. They've been sitting there lonely this whole time, in their gunky pumpkin guts, waiting for you. If you want, you can bake these up while you're doing the pumpkin itself (on a separate baking sheet, of course) and add to the main dish as a garnish, but we think they're pretty great on their own.

It's pretty easy: under running water, in a strainer, separate the seeds from all the gunky flesh. Once they're separated, wash them well, place them on paper towels and let them dry. Put them in a small bowl with a teaspoon of salt and any spices your desire (if any). Personally, we use a Moroccan spice blend consisting of equal parts cumin, ginger, paprika, turmeric, and then a couple of dashes of pepper. Sure, we're fancy now, but growing up it was just salt all the way. Do it how you like, spread them on a baking sheet and bake them at 375 degrees until golden brown and aromatic.