Gnocchi with Roasted Pumpkin, Cranberries and Sage Brown Butter
Potato gnocchi with roasted sugar pumpkins, cranberries, goat cheese, Parmesan cheese, and sage brown butter sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb. packaged potato gnocchi Trader Joe’s carries a good one, but you can find this in just about any grocery store
- 1 sugar pumpkin, stem and seeds removed and cut into 3/4-inch wedges leave skin on
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 4 tbsp. salted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced can use extra thyme springs for garnish
- 2 fresh sage leaves, finely minced can use extra sage leaves for garnish
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries can use extra cranberries for garnish
- 2 oz. goat cheese crumbles
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- To roast the pumpkin, preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray. Lay the pumpkin wedges out on the baking sheet and brush both sides of each wedge with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown and a knife can be easily inserted into the flesh of the pumpkin.
- Remove from oven. When cool enough to handle, remove skins (or if you like them you can keep them on … they are edible and add extra color), and cut all but four of the wedges into bite-sized pieces. If you have enough, save the wedges to use one for a garnish on each plate.
- Brown the butter. You can do this step several days ahead of time to save some time, or you can do it just as you make the dish. To make the brown butter, place butter in a saucepan with a light colored bottom if possible, and if not just use a regular saucepan. (I know this pic shows a dark pan … 🤦🏼♀️) Add minced sage and thyme and cook over medium-low heat until the butter begins to sizzle and bubble and eventually you will see little brown solids around the edges and at the bottom of the pan. This should take anywhere from 10-15 minutes, depending upon the water content in your butter and the temperature of your burners. I’ve seen it take 5 minutes and I’ve seen it take 25 minutes, but do keep your eye on it, because the butter can go from beautifully brown to burned in a heart beat!
- Once it’s brown, add 1/2 cup of dried cranberries to the herbed butter and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes longer. Remove butter from the heat and set aside.
- Cook gnocchi according to instructions on the package. Meanwhile reheat the sage brown butter on low heat. When the gnocchi are cooked (probably about 3 minutes in boiling water) strain them through a colander and then add them to the saucepan with the sage brown butter and cranberries. Add the cubed pumpkin pieces and toss all together well.
- Serve on plates and garnish with extra dried cranberries, goat cheese crumbles, grated Parmesan, snipped sage leaves and thyme leaves. If you have extra roasted pumpkin wedges, place one on each plate when you serve it.
