Pumpkin and Blue Potato Gnocchi with Sausage is the perfect main dish for your next Halloween Party. It is super yummy to eat and super gross and scary to look at. Perfect for a Halloween Party.
I made this Pumpkin and Blue Potato Gnocchi for dinner this past weekend when my daughter and grandkids came over. I thought the grandsons would think it would be fun to eat such “GROSS” food for dinner. No way! They did not want to eat it. However, my granddaughter was all ready to give them a try and declared them yucky to look at and yummy to eat. Go figure.
Make The Gnocchi
For the Blue Potato Gnocchi:
Peel and cook the potatoes by boiling them. Once the potatoes are cooked, let them cool, then rice them with a potato ricer. (click here for a potato ricer) Whisk the egg with the salt and drizzle over the riced potatoes. Gently mix the egg into the potatoes by tossing with a fork or your fingers. Finally, sprinkle 1-1/4 cups of the flour on the potato egg mixture and again toss with a fork to coat or your fingers. Gentle is the key in making gnocchi. Bring the mixture together to form a soft dough and knead a few times. Add the additional 1/4 of a cup of flour if the dough is extra sticky. Blue potatoes have a higher moisture content so you will likely need the extra 1/4 of a cup of flour. Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
For the Pumpkin Gnocchi:
Instead of the potato, use roasted pumpkin puree concentrate. Click here to read my blog for how to roast the pumpkin and concentrate the puree.
Once the pumpkin is riced, grate the nutmeg onto the pumpkin. Then use the same instructions as for the potato gnocchi.
To Shape the Pumpkin and Blue Potato Gnocchi:
Cut a piece of dough off and form a long log, 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut the log into 1-inch segments. The gnocchi may be cooked without further shaping. However, if you want to shape them into the traditional shape, use a gnocchi board or fork. To shape the gnocchi, press gently on the gnocchi while rolling it down the fork or board. This creates the groves in the gnocchi.
Cook the gnocchi and Fry the Sausage:
Cut the sausage into 1-inch pieces and fry in a large frying pan until browned. While you are frying the link, bring two large kettles of salted water to a boil.
Once the sausage is browned, cook the gnocchi in small batches—about a dozen gnocchi at a time. When the gnocchi floats to the surface of the water, it is cooked. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon to the frying pan with the sausage. Turn the heat down to warm.
Make the Sage Browned Butter:
For the sage browned butter, you want one stick of butter and 1/2 cup of sage ribbons: Click here for the blog and a video.
Here are some tips on how to make browned butter.
- Heat the butter on medium heat.
- The butter will initially foam, and the browning will start to happen.
- As soon as the brown bits start to form on the bottom of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and add the herbs.
- Return the pan to heat and continue to cook until the herbs are crispy. Take care not to burn the butter.
Add the Sage Browned Butter to the Pumpkin and Purple Potato Gnocchi. Toss to coat and serve on a large serving platter or in a Large Cast Iron Skillet. The Skillet has more of a Halloween look to it.
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Equipment
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- gnocchi board
- Potato Ricer
Ingredients
Pumpkin Gnocchi
- 2 cups Pumpkin Concentrate see blog on how to roast pumpkin for the pumpkin concentrate
- 1½ cup Flour all-purpose (180g)
- 1 large Egg
- ½ tsp Salt
- ⅛ tsp grated Nutmeg
Blue Potato Gnocchi
- 1 lb peeled, cooked and cooled blue potatoes
- 1½ cups Flour
- 1 large Egg
- ½ tsp Salt
Sage Browned Butter
- 1 stick of butter
- ½ cup fresh sage ribbons
Sausage
- 2 lbs sausage links cut into 1-inch pieces I like to use the thin Italian sausage.
Instructions
Gnocchi
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.
- Rice either the pumpkin puree or the blue potatoes onto a sheet pan with a potato ricer. Make the pumpkin gnocchi and then the blue potato gnocchi.
- Beat the egg with the salt and mix it into the pumpkin or blue potatoes with a fork.
- Sprinkle the pumpkin or blue potatoes with 1 1/4 cup of the flour. For the pumpkin gnocchi only, add 1/8 tsp of grated nutmeg to the mixture. Gently knead to mix. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Add more flour if needed. (see notes) Cover and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- Cut a piece of dough off with a bench knife, and roll it to form a long rope 1/2-inch in diameter.
- Cut the rope into pieces 1-inch long.
- Use a gnocchi roller or fork to give the gnocchi its classic shape. The gnocchi can also be cooked without being shaped.
- To cook the gnocchi: Bring a pot of water to boil, add a tsp of salt to the boiling water. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Cook in small batches (see notes).
- When the gnocchi floats to the surface of the water, it is cooked. Use a slotted spoon to remove the gnocchi from the boiling water.
- The gnocchi can be frozen on a sheet pan and then vacuum packed for storage for up to 6 months. Alternately, store the frozen gnocchi in a ziplock freezer bag for up to a month.
- Make the pumpkin gnocchi separate from the blue potato gnocchi.
Sage Browned Butter
- Make the Sage Browned butter before you cook the gnocchi. Set aside.
- click here to watch a video and read my blog on how to make Sage Browned Butter.
Sausage
- Once the gnocchi is done, fill 2 large kettles with water, bring to a boil.
- While you are waiting for the water to boil, brown the sausage in a large cast iron skillet or frying pan; Turn heat to the lowest setting to keep the sausage warm.
- Cook the gnocchi in the boiling water, One kettle for the pumpkin gnocchi, and one kettle for the blue potato gnocchi. Add 1 -2 handfuls of the gnocchi to the boiling water. Once the gnocchi is cooked transfer it with a slotted spoon to the skillet of sausage.
Finish and Serve
- I cooked half of each variety of gnocchi for this dish and froze the rest for another day.
- Add the sage browned butter and lightly toss to coat.
- Serve immediately and enjoy a yummy but scary main dish this Halloween.
Notes
Nutrition
