Recipe: Pumpkin Gnocchi with Spicy Pepita Pesto

As soon as fall hits and I'm in my hoodie I want everything to be pumpkin. Pumpkin decorations, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pie, pumpkin patch trips and pumpkin dinners. Oh look, here's one now! (ha!) 

Hey so.. Gnocchi is easy to make - it has simple ingredients and the results are fantastic. As long as you take care and do not overwork the dough you should end up with some soft tasty dumplings that you can add any number of sauces to. The spicy pepita pesto is AWESOME but you could also go with a creamy vegan alfredo sauce, a marinara sauce or even add these dumplings to SOUP! (SAY WHAT! Soup AND gnocchi?! Heavenly!) You can also leave out the spicy part of the pesto and just go for the cheesy nutty goodness of a nut and cheese free sauce. I don't know how it all works out that way but um.. don't question a good thing, ya know? 

Don't be scared of making something like this from scratch. It's even something you can get the kids involved with! (Kids love to roll dough into snakes! My kid just sits and eats the dough so it's not as fun for me. I have to make huge batches just so I can cook a little bit of it.) 

Click here to download the Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe and Coloring Page!

Pumpkin Gnocchi

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup flour (whole wheat or all purpose)
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of nutmeg (freshly grated is best!)

• First off, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Be careful to not overwork the dough while mixing together. You may need to add a bit more flour to get a soft yet not sticky dough. Add as little extra flour as possible. 
• Take a quarter of the dough and roll into a 3/4" thick rope (finger thickness.) Cut rope into 1 inch pieces. You can roll the dumplings on fork tines for extra texture or just make an indentation with your finger. Set gnocchi on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Repeat until all dumplings are made. 
• Drop gnocchi into boiling water and cook until they float on the surface (3-5 minutes.) Remove with slotted spoon and toss with pesto (or your favorite sauce.) 

Spicy Pepita Pesto

1/4 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

4 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno (seeded if you want! If you don't want any spice you can use a green pepper here or poblano, anaheim, or even cubanelle) 

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup cilantro (packed)

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley (packed)

2 TBSP. nutritional yeast

1 TBSP. white or yellow miso paste (you can leave this out and use 1/2 tsp salt instead.)

1/4 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper as you think necessary. Pour over gnocchi (or whatever you want to eat it on!) 

ENJOY!!