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This comforting recipe is perfect for cosy autumnal evenings. It celebrates some of the best of what’s in season at this time of year with creamy and sweet Crown Prince squash. This alternative to potato gnocchi also uses ricotta for extra fluffiness. The toasted hazelnuts, salty parmesan and crispy fried sage leaves balance perfectly with the sweetness of the squash. Together, these autumn flavours will have you reaching for seconds.
Rolling gnocchi takes some practise but this slow, autumnal activity allows you to enjoy the meditative-like nature of repetitive cooking tasks. You can prepare the gnocchi ahead of time and chill the rolled out pieces until you’re ready to cook them.
What is Crown Prince squash?
Crown Prince squash has a distinctive blue-grey outer skin and sweet golden flesh. It stands out not just for its pretty pale blue colour, but its delicious taste and texture. It’s a particularly velvety squash with a sweet, nutty flavour, making it a great choice for special recipes like this homemade gnocchi.
When is Crown Prince squash in season?
Crown Prince squash is usually harvested in September and October. In the right conditions, it can be stored for months after harvest, meaning you can often enjoy this tasty squash into the winter months.
How to roll gnocchi
This is a fairly soft dough thanks to the ricotta and squash. This means you’ll need plenty of flour when rolling out your gnocchi. You can keep your gnocchi rustic and leave it as little pillows. Or, if you’re aiming to nail the authentic barrel shape and ridges, watch the linked video. You’ll need a fork to help create the ridges in your gnocchi.
Crown Prince squash gnocchi recipe with crispy sage and toasted hazelnuts
A comforting autumnal dish using sweet and velvety Crown Prince squash.
Ingredients
- ½ Crown Prince squash (450g when roasted)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 100 grams ricotta
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ tsp salt (plus a pinch)
- black pepper (couple of pinches)
- 250 grams plain flour (plus plenty extra for rolling out)
- 25 grams parmesan (finely grated, plus more for serving)
- 1 handful fresh sage leaves
- 35 grams hazelnuts (crushed)
- 75 grams salted butter
Steps
- Peel and chop the squash into chunks. Chop the garlic clove in half. Add both to an oven dish or baking tray and drizzle with ½ tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast at 180℃ (fan) for 20-30 minutes until soft.
- Once cooled, blitz the squash and garlic in a food processor with the egg yolk, salt, pepper, ricotta and parmesan until smooth.
- Add the mixture to a large bowl and stir through the flour to bring into a ball. Add more flour if the mixture is still very wet.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll out each piece into long, thin sausages on a heavily floured work surface.
- Cut into roughly 1.5cm x 1.5cm pieces (they'll look like little pillows). You call leave the pieces like this, or roll off a flour-dusted fork to form the classic gnocchi ridges (see video above).
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil. In a frying pan, melt 35g butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Cook half of the prepared gnocchi in the boiling water for around 2 minutes, or until each piece floats to the surface. Turn up the heat on the frying pan and transfer the gnocchi.
- Fry until starting to golden. Add half the sage leaves and cook further until the sage leaves have fried. In a small pan, gently toast the hazelnuts.
- Repeat with the remaining gnocchi, adding the rest of the butter to the frying pan if needed.
- Plate up the gnocchi, adding a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts and grated parmesan to serve.
Recipe Notes
- You can use ordinary plain flour, but super fine flour works well too.
- Serves 3-4, depending how hungry you are.
- You’ll need plenty of extra flour for dusting. If storing the gnocchi in the fridge for later, dust each piece and the plate well.
More autumn recipe ideas:
Maple, pecan and apple crumble
