These Kabocha Squash and Chestnut Gnocchi and Forking Delicious…….The Kabocha Squash is so sweet and chestnut- like tasting that they are meant to go together. So I combined some chestnut flour into the squash gnocchi and had some chestnuts cooking in the browning butter and the flavor really is off the charts great. I MUST ADMIT that this recipe is not recommended for people who are beginners at gnocchi making because these are harder to make than regular potato or cheese gnocchi. The squash doesn’t work as well with the flour and you might have trouble if your squash is too watery for this recipe to come out right. My squash was too hard for me to cut so I pierced it all over with a knife. Threw it on a pan with maybe 1/3rd of an inch of water at 400 degrees F. Covered the squash checked it at 45 minutes and it was still rock hard. It was a big kabocha. Checked every 15 minutes and it was “knife tender” not fork tender. At 90 minutes I got a knife tender kabocha.

The Squash should be cooked like this dry and not too moist or you have to make something else with it.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 cup mashed kabocha squash.

1 XL egg – slightly beaten

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 oz chestnut flour

3/4 cup ap  flour ( only up to 3/4 cup should start with 1/2 cup do a tester and work up if necessary )*

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

pinch nutmeg

pinch white pepper

1 Tablespoon kosher or sea salt – for boiling the gnocchi

4 oz sweet butter ( for sauce )

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil ( for sauce )

5 oz chestnuts – roasted, peeled ( for sauce )

one bunch sage leaves – cleaned  ( to flavor butter and to top gnocchi with )

4 heaping Tablespoons ricotta cheese -preferably home made ( to finish plate of gnocchi )

Directions

In a large bowl with a for mix together the squash, egg and chestnut flour and let it sit on a counter for about thirty minutes.

While the squash mixture is sitting prepare the sauce.

In a sauce pan add the butter and olive oil. Once melted turn to medium high. let it go a few minutes and then add the chestnuts on one half of the pan . You can break them down a little with a spoon here if you want too.  Place the sage leaves on the other half of the pan. When sage leaves are crisp remove and let drain on a towel. When the chestnuts are lightly browned remove them. Let the butter go till it looks a little lighter than caramel. Take off heat and leave to the side.

Put on a sauce pot to medium boil with a tablespoon of water. Tie some kitchen string to a handle. The string cuts the gnocchi like so. But be careful not to catch the string on fire.

In the squash mixture bowl you need to add the remaining ingredients of balsamic, *flour (read note at flour ingredients), 1 teaspoon sea salt, nutmeg, white pepper and brown sugar. Mix well.

Snip disposable pastry bag, fold and fill like picture.

Twist end.

Apply pressure and cut gnocchi off with string.

Gnocchi will float in about a minute. Let them cook about a minute after floating.

Scoop them out with a slotted spoon into a dish and top with a little bit of the butter from the pan and shake the dish so the gnocchi get buttered. Don’t worry about pasta water getting mixed in because you want that! It’s better that way.

Refill pastry bag and repeat.

Add the chestnuts. Top with sage and a dab of ricotta.

Forking Delicious!