Recipe: Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Harissa Onions

This recipe is my nod to Halloween.  I’m currently in France and this post was written several days ago and scheduled!  Such is the wonder of blog software I can work ahead of time and no one is any the wiser as to my whereabouts.

Looking though the archives it seems that I last blogged about gnocchi over two years ago, in June 2009, when I made tofu gnocchi, and very good they were too.   I am surprised that I have not made them since.

Potato gnocchi (the more times I type it the more convinced I am that I am spelling gnocchi wrongly) is all very nice, but a little boring, so I made this batch with a mix of about 50% spud and 50% butternut squash.   You could use the innards of your Halloween pumpkin too. Do not throw the seeds away. Instead, give them a good wash and pick out all the fibrous bits and roast in olive oil with pepper, salt and some spices until golden and crispy.   Pumpkin seeds are meant to be an appetite suppressant, a good thing if you are a food writer like me and also enjoying your work a little too much.

Roasting will improve many vegetables, especially pumpkins, squash and root veggies. Water will be lost, concentrating the flavour, and carbohydrates will be caramelized, making them sweeter.  Yum!

Most of the time I use Steenbergs spices, they are organic and Fairtrade, great quality with fantastic deep flavours, Sophie Steenberg is also Ed’s cousin.   Their rose harissa is fantastic, the label is not joking when it says “bitingly hot”.   I love the extra flora note that the rose gives, and far prefer a tin of ground spice, that can be kept in the cupboard, over pastes that need to live in the fridge once opened.

I suspect that these gnocchi will work equally well with a mix of any root vegetable, pumpkin or squash, use what you have, there really are no recipe rules or recipe police here.

I learnt the piping bag trick from Mardi, using one, or just a zip lock bag with the corner snipped off, will make making gnocchi a far easier, quicker and infinitely less messy and sticky experience that you are more likely to repeat.   Which you will want to, as homemade are infinitely nicer than shop bought.  Pipe out any leftover batter onto a silicon mat and freeze, then drop into boiling water to cook from frozen.

When slow frying the onions it is ver,y very easy to keep adding more and more butter and oil. I think that both are delicious, but if you have never done so take the time to measure out 1 oz of butter and 1 oz of oil.  An ounce of butter contains 184 calories, olive oil 225, with both this is a relatively small amount. I usually add a little of the pasta cooking water to a sauce.

Follow the link for more about making caramelized onions.

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4.84 from 12 votes

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sticky Harissa Onions

Gnocchi with a difference; using both butternut squash and potato adds flavour.

Servings: 4 people

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (small )
• 3 -4 medium potatoes
• 150 g plain flour ((150g) )
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp Harissa powder or paste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Peel and cut the squash into 5cm / 2"cubes.   Drizzle with a little oil, season with salt and pepper and roast at 180C / 350F / GM4 for about 30 to 40 minutes until soft and starting to brown.
• Slice the onion thinly and slowly fry with the harissa in the oil and butter.  You need to do this over a very gentle heat, so you drive off the water and the onion becomes sweet and sticky rather than browned.   I find this impossible to do without burning the onions unless I use a heat diffuser.  This should take about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel and boil the potatoes.  When done drain and add the cooked squash, mash or pass through a potato ricer and stir in the flour.   Add more flour if needed, yo will nedd about 150g for 750g cooked vegetables.   The mixture will be sticky, but should come together into a solid lump.
• With floured hands roll into sausages and cut into bit sized pieces.  Or, as will be far easier dollop it into a piping, or strong plastic bag and snip the corner off and pip directly into a pan of boiling water.
• Cook the gnocchi in a large pan of boiling water, allow gnocchi to boil for a minute or two after rising to the surface of the pan.    Scoop with a slotted spoon and drain on a tea towel or kitchen paper.
• Serve topped with the slow cooked harissa onions.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition Facts

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sticky Harissa Onions

Amount Per Serving

Calories 290 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 7mg2%

Sodium 51mg2%

Potassium 740mg21%

Carbohydrates 53g18%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 20020IU400%

Vitamin C 41.4mg50%

Calcium 102mg10%

Iron 3.1mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Vegetables

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We washed it down with a rather good bottle of Morrison’s The Best Valpolicella, 2008 that really stood up quite well to the heat of the harissa.

Thanks to Morrisons for the wine.