One cup of ricotta cheese has around 428 calories and around 31.93 g fat

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One cup of potatoes is nearly fat free but has around 280 calories.

One cup of kabocha squash is only 40 calories a cup and is fat free.

Gnocchi are little dumpling that are most often made from potato or cheese or a combination of both.

I decided I’d make Kabocha Squash Gnocchi similar to the way I make ricotta gnocchi but I will go even another step healthy and use 1/2 spelt flour to half all-purpose flour.

The recipe is forking simple.

1 cup of cooked kabocha squash blended or mashed well. (from whole squash you cook…you need the rest of squash for sauce)

1/2 cup spelt flour (slightly scant)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (slightly scant)

1 egg (beaten)

about 1 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch saffron

Put on a pot of water to boil with a tablespoon or so of kosher salt. Combine ingredients and insert in a pastry bag with an open end. Squeeze out mixture from bag into the boiling water and break the gnocchi off with your finger.

When the gnocchi float to the top let them cook a few minutes and then remove them with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl and drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil to prevent sticking.

When I went to forking photo my water was a little too hot and almost forking boiled over but I turned it down in time.

I let my water reduce a little and I added some vegetable base to the water and a pinch of saffron. Next I added the rest of the pureed kabocha squash to the liquid to thicken it a little. I also added one shredded carrot.

 

This soup-like sauce is good and does have a natural creamy texture.  I thought I’d make it more interesting with other flavors and textures. The additions were, apple, onion, garlic, almonds and roasted sweet tomatoes.

If you want a richer “Weekend” version add about 2 Tablespoons of butter and a splash of cream. You might want to reduce slightly further.

Set oven to 350 roast.

I roasted up everything on a slightly oiled pan being careful not to burn the almonds pushing the onions and apples over them.

1/4 cup lightly crushed almonds.

One apple small chopped.

About 1/4 sweet onion small chopped,

One garlic clove minced.

Fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and I

lightly sprayed them all on one pan with extra virgin olive oil.

I took the pan out in 14 minutes.

Added this mixture to my soup like sauce and poured some over the gnocchi.

I roasted a few tiny sweet tomatoes. The tomatoes are the perfect accent for this dish and make the flavors pop.