Pumpkin and Parmesan Gnocchi

Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 20 minutes / Cook time: 35 minutes for the pumpkin, 10 minutes for the gnocchi

INGREDIENTS

500 grams prepared pumpkin (about 750 grams unpeeled, unseeded)

1 free-range egg yolk (freeze the white to use in another recipe)

1⁄4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve

1⁄2 cup plain flour, plus extra for shaping

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

3⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

a little butter

METHOD

Heat the oven to 200°C.

Cut the pumpkin into rough pieces and put on a lined baking tray. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until soft enough to pierce easily with a fork. Remove from the oven and leave on a rack until cool enough to handle - this allows air to circulate around the pumpkin and prevents it from going soggy.

Mash the pumpkin until very smooth, then add the egg yolk and Parmesan. Beat well, then stir through the flour, salt and pepper to form a soft dough.

Dust the benchtop with flour. Line a large tray with baking paper and dust this with flour too, then set aside.

Divide the dough into four portions. Take one and roll it under your hands to form a long, thin sausage about 2 centimetres thick. Cut into 2-3 centimetre pieces, then shape. This is easier to do than it is to explain: hold on to each little gnocchi and press one side with a floured fork while gently pushing up the underside with your finger so it makes a little pillowy shape. Set on the floured tray and repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

When all the dough is shaped, let it rest for 10 minutes while you clean up and get a large pot of salted water boiling.

When you're ready to cook, drop batches of gnocchi into the boiling water and let cook for 2-3 minutes or until it floats to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon to a warmed bowl and drop in a few teaspoons of butter - it will melt and stop the gnocchi from sticking together.

Serve the gnocchi with lots of freshly grated Parmesan and/or your favourite homemade tomato sauce.

Note: The gnocchi can also be frozen after shaping, and then cooked from frozen in about 5 minutes.