Pumpkin and Ricotta Gnocchi With Brown Butter and Sage Sauce

Whether you're sipping on your Dunkin' latte, spreading it on toast or setting it on fire, pumpkins and squashes of all kinds are everywhere — we're in the throes of what I like to call "decorative gourd season."

Related: Pumpkin Spice Date Bark Recipe

Culinary Arts Chef-Instructor Chayanin Pornsriniyom is a lover of all things pumpkin (she's the first on campus to partake in pumpkin spice latte season), and this fall, she's whipping up a hearty and comforting bowl of pumpkin gnocchi with a brown butter and sage sauce. 

And the "bowl" in question is an adorable sugar pumpkin that's been basted with a maple syrup mixture and then roasted — it's edible.

Oh, my gourd. Here's how to make it at home.

Recipe

Pumpkin and Ricotta Gnocchi With Brown Butter and Sage Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Bowl:

• 1 2-3 pound sugar pumpkin
• 10 grams maple syrup
• 1 gram cinnamon powder
• 2 grams kosher salt

For the Pumpkin Gnocchi:

• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces pumpkin puree
• 8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• 4 grams kosher salt
• 1 gram ground nutmeg
• 3 ounces grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 210 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
• 8 large sage leaves, kept whole
• freshly cracked black pepper
• salt

Directions

For the Pumpkin Bowl:

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Cut the top off the pumpkin to create a lid.
3. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, cinnamon powder and salt.
4. Using a pastry brush, rub the inside of the pumpkin lid and pumpkin bowl with maple syrup mixture.
5. Roast both top and bottom pumpkin in the oven for 30 mins until golden brown and cooked through.

For the Pumpkin Gnocchi and Assembly:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, ricotta cheese, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Then, whisk in the grated parmesan.
3. Add the flour to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate it. (Do not overmix or it will become tough.)
4. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut it in half. Gently roll each half of the dough into a long rope, adding a little more flour as needed. Cut the ropes into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces, then shape them on a gnocchi board lightly dusted with flour to prevent sticking and set aside.
5. For the brown butter sauce, add the butter to a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Allow it to melt and start to brown. Reduce the heat to medium-low then add the sage leaves and fry them until crispy; remove from pan and set aside.
6. Transfer the gnocchi to the pot of salted boiling water. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the top, then transfer the gnocchi directly to the sage brown butter sauce, allowing some of the water to drip over as well. Gently toss to coat until the sauce clings to the gnocchi. Let the gnocchi sear up for about 3 minutes. Add grated parmesan cheese and season with salt to taste.
7. Plate the gnocchi into the pumpkin bowl with all of the sauce spooned over top. Garnish with a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan, fried sage and freshly cracked black pepper.