Burnt Butter and Sage Gnocchi with Pumpkin Seed Flour

August 06, 2021

This recipe comes from our dear friend Anna. She is an absolute whiz in the kitchen and when it comes to good Italian food Anna knows best! Here she has paired the nuttiness of pumpkin seed flour in her gnocchi with the traditional and always crowd pleasing sage burnt butter sauce. A new take on an authentic recipe, the result... Molte Bene! Deliziosi!

This recipe makes 4 generous serves

You'll need for the gnocchi:

1 kg Large, floury Potatoes
70g Pumpkin Seed Flour
140g Plain Flour (Quantity may vary depending on the potatoes)
1 Egg
Salt (to taste)

You'll need for the Sage sauce:

6 Large, fresh sage leaves
80g Butter
Grated Parmesan cheese to serve.

Method:

Wash the potatoes and cook in boiling water.
When the potatoes are tender, remove from the water and place in a potato ricer. (You will find the skin will be left behind in the ricer – saving you the job of peeling them). If you do not have a potato ricer, peel the potatoes and mash them thoroughly, so there are no lumps.
Add salt to the mashed potatoes. It needs to taste a bit salty, as you will then be adding the flour, which will reduce the overall saltiness.
Add the egg, pumpkin seed flour and plain flour. Mix with your hands. The mixture should form a nice, soft dough. If the mixture is too wet, add extra flour but be careful as the more flour you add, the denser the mixture becomes. It is best to leave the dough on the softer side.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into long sausages of 1cm diameter. Cur the dough into 2cm lengths. At this stage, roll each of the gnocchi along a cheese grater (or as Nonna use to do, the back of a fork). The ridges on the gnocchi help the sauce to stick to them. However, if you are in a hurry, you can leave this step out.
To cook the gnocchi, boil a large quantity of salted water. When the water is boiling, add the gnocchi. The gnocchi are cooked when they come to the surface of the boiling water. Scoop out with a slotted spoon (or large hand sieve) and place in a bowl.
To make the sage butter sauce, heat the butter in a small fry pan, add the sage leaves and cook the butter until slightly brown.
Pour the sauce over the gnocchi, mix well and top with parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito!