Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Roasted Vegetable sauce

Today we took on something rather adventurous... Gnocchi!! This is a pasta alternative made with potatoes or other root type vegetables that is usually boiled and tossed with sauce or flavored butter.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi - Intermediate and time consuming

What We Used:

• 1 butternut squash, steamed and peeled
• 2-4 cups flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• onion powder
• 2 eggs

We cut and gutted the squash, then quartered it (it was pretty small) and tossed it in our lovely steamer. Once it was done cooking, it was set aside to cool. I got my brother to peel it for me while I was busy with the sauce, then he mashed the squash and set it to cool a little further. We mixed in two eggs, the spices, then started adding flour until we had dough the same consistancy as pasta dough.

After that, I cut the dough into small pieces and we rolled them into roundish shapes and squished them with a floured fork. This part is actually best done with a pot of boiling water on hand to put them in right away. *sigh* Unfortunately, I didn't think of that at the time and some of the gnocchi ended up sticking together in a glob.

We added the gnocchi to boiling water and waited for them to float to the surface, indicating they were done. Then they were scooped out and set aside. I oiled them a bit in preparation of baking them and to keep them from sticking together.

I baked the gnocchi at 375 until they were crisp and golden in color on either side, then served them with meatballs and the sauce.

Roasted Vegetable Sauce - Easy

What We Used:

• 1 orange pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1/4 onion
• 1 clove elephant garlic ( or about 6 cloves of regular, my current garlic is on steroids )
• 4 tomatoes
• corriandar
• basil
• oregano
• onion powder
• oil

To start with, I gutted the peppers and cut them into quarters, laying them in a baking dish and sprinkling them with oil. I cut an onion into quarters, removed the skin and pulled the whole petals off. I halved the tomatoes, cutting a shallow X into the bottom half to make sure the skin peeled back properly.

I put the garlic in the middle of another baking dish, put the tomatoes around it then tossed the onions in. Both dishes went into the oven at 350 degrees until the tomatoes were soft, the garlic was tender and the onions were crisp around the edges. The peppers took a little longer. I pulled them out when the skins were beginning to turn black and set both pans on the stove to cool.

Once they were cool enough to handle, I pulled the skins off the peppers and tomatoes, cut everything into large chunks and tossed it into a pot along with the spices. It simmered until the meatballs and the gnocchi were finished baking.

Verdict?



VERY good! The sauce complimented the slightly sweet gnocchi perfectly! And my curry meatballs were great with the whole dish. This is something I'd definitely do again!


~Sam