Butternut Squash Gnocchi Recipe

October is my salute to squash! Salute to seasonal vegetables in general! Possibly November as well, that's how excited I am about this salute!

Oh So Delicious Butternut Squash Gnocchi!

I love everything about Autumn, with frosty nights and nippy mornings and root vegetables all around. I find myself inspired by squash, and parsnips, and sweet potatoes, and possibly even pumpkin (though I haven't given pumpkin much of a chance in the past).

First on the roster: Butternut Squash Gnocchi.

My mother makes the most delicious butternut squash gnocchi, in a brown butter sage sauce, served usually as a primi piatto to a delicious turkey dinner - which means we had to wait all year to have these gnocchi. Not anymore mom! Today I learn to make gnocchi!

One thing that excites me about this gnocchi is that it's a totally vegetarian dish. It could even be vegan too, if you swapped out the butter for some extra virgin olive oil in the last step.

Take one butternut squash.

For starters, find a sexy butternut squash. Perfect specimens should weigh about 2lbs, and be nice and firm. Don't mind the jealous stares of the people at the grocery store - they probably know you are on your way home to create delicious things with that fabulous vegetable.

Butternut Squash Recipe

Ingredients:

One Butternut Squash

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for cooking

2 1/2 cups flour, plus lots of extra

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Sage, finely chopped

Oregano

Garlic Powder

Butter

Grated Parmesan (optional)

Take the butternut squash and chop it in half. I wish S was around for this part, because these squash are extremely firm and fairly tough to cut through. Scoop out the seeds and fibers and discard. Coat that gorgeous orange vegetable lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake face down on a baking sheet, in a 375F oven, for one hour. Squash should be knife-tender when you remove it.

Let cool slightly, then scoop out the innards into a bowl, leaving behind the tough outer skin. Mash with a potato masher (or some forks) until no lumps remain. 

Let squash cool for another 20 minutes or so, until room temperature (or nearly). Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil into squash, with approximately 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp oregano, and a dash of garlic powder. Adjust spices to suit your particular tastes - I certainly tasted the mixture a few times as I was stirring!

Slowly add flour, mixing constantly until you achieve a soft dough ball. The consistency should be much like Play Dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel for at least 45 minutes to let the gluten in the flour become nice and sticky.

When my dough's time was up, I found the mixture had become insanely sticky again. To counter this, I poured a small mountain of flour on the cutting board so I could work it into the dough as needed. Roll small pieces of the dough into skinny sausages, approximately 3/4 inch in diameter. Notice how the beautiful orange colour goes away because of all that flour? Not to worry - it comes back in the cooking process. Chop the gnocchi into small bite-size pieces. For added gorgeousness, roll the tines of a fork over each individual gnocchi. I didn't do that step - I had much better things to do than spend all evening rolling hundreds of gnocchi over a fork just so they are a bit prettier.

                              

I taste tested the first dozen gnocchi I cut to see if the consistency was right. To do this, drop the gnocchi carefully into a pot of boiling water. Stir gently. Cook for several minutes, until they float to the surface. 

To store the gnocchi I wasn't going to eat immediately (anything you aren't going to eat that day) I spaced them evenly on a cookie sheet that was well dusted with flour, and I froze them all. It made servings enough for 8-10 people (depending on their level of hungry).

Cooking the gnocchi right away? Yum, I approve. 

Prepare a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Drop gnocchi individually into pot, stir gently to make sure none are stuck to the bottom. Cook for several minutes or until gnocchi float to the surface. Melt some butter in a pan, add some chopped fresh sage, oregano, pepper and garlic (or any combination that suits you). Remove floating gnocchi from water with a slotted spoon, deposit into pan. Stir to coat with butter. I like to cook them for several minutes in the pan, or until just firm on the outside. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve hot. 

Your lucky guests will beg for this recipe. It is great on it's own, or as a starter to a wonderful meal. Unfortunately it was midnight when I finished, so I didn't really bother making side dishes.

Cheers!

Delicious butternut squash gnocchi.

Raspberry Ice Cream Recipe

Outrageous or Outrageously Delicious?

It was Sunday, and I was thinking of ice cream (I seem to think about ice cream a lot). I had the urge to experiment with frozen yogurt (maybe next week) but also felt like making something strawberry. After the fabulous success of the Chocolate Fudge Ripple Ice Cream last week, I was feeling empowered enough to try my hand at making a perfect strawberry ice cream. However, we didn't have strawberries: we had raspberries, and I felt like improvising.

After some research, I decided to combine a few different recipes and experiment with Ben & Jerry's style ice cream - made with raw eggs. It turns out there's a lot of controversy regarding raw eggs in ice cream! I checked out these links for their views on raw eggs: The Garden Web, Chow, and Serious Eats. Ultimately I decided to go for it, because what's the worst that could happen? A horrible bout of food poisoning? I figured I would test-try a bowl before poisoning anyone.

Raspberry Ice Cream Recipe

2 cups frozen raspberries

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 large eggs

3/4 + 1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix together raspberries, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Slowly add 3/4 cup sugar and beat for several minutes, add vanilla and milk. Pour mixture into ice cream maker (mine uses a pre-frozen mixing container). Turn on the ice cream maker, let partially freeze for a few minutes, pour in cream. Keep the ice cream maker running for another ten minutes or so - mixture should be half frozen. Slowly add raspberry mixture to ice cream maker - the rotating action of the bowl should mix them in evenly and leave some raspberries whole. 

Pour into plastic storage container and leave in freezer for twelve hours or overnight until fully frozen. 

Verdict: creamy, delicious raspberry ice cream. Very fun, tart flavour. While I never got around to having the family test-taste it, S and I didn't get food poisoning from the raw eggs. Would I do it again? Definitely. I may have to try lemon ice cream next....