SWEET & SOUR PUMPKIN GNOCCHI WITH PECORINO
I don't usually go for pumpkin pasta. More often than not, I find it far too sweet. But I had this in Tuscany, and it completely changed my mind - sweet, sour, salty, delicious. I think I've done a pretty good job at recreating it.
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1/2 white onion very finely chopped
- 2 small garlic cloves minced
- 2 sprigs thyme leaves picked
- 200 g Delica pumpkin peeled & grated
- 75 ml dry white wine
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 450 g fresh potato gnocchi
- 25 g salted butter
- pecorino di fossa (or the best aged pecorino you can get your hands on)
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
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Warm a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and add a good glug of olive oil. Once hot, add the onion and a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, thyme and grated pumpkin and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the pumpkin begins to collapse.
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Turn up the heat slightly, and add the wine. Let it bubble and simmer, until the wine has evaporated, then reduce the heat to low. Stir through 100ml of water and a good pinch of salt, then clamp on the lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring regularly, until the pumpkin is very soft, but still mostly holding its shape (it shouldn't have any crunch when you taste it - it should just melt in the mouth!). Stir through the white wine vinegar and a good few grinds of black pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
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When your pumpkin sauce is 5 minutes from ready, pan fry the gnocchi according to its packet instructions. You don’t really want any colour on it, you just want to cook it through, and keep its chew.
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Stir the gnocchi and butter through the pumpkin sauce. It is meant to be quite a dry sauce, but you can stir through a dash of water, if you would prefer it a little looser. Serve between plates, then grate over a very generous helping of pecorino. Finish with a grind of black pepper, and you are good to go.