Venetian-style pumpkin gnocchi: oven-roasted pumpkin, a little flour and one egg, dressed with melted butter, sage and Grana. The recipe in 90 minutes, for 4 people.
Introduction
Pumpkin gnocchi are the first course of the Venetian autumn: an orange dough, soft and just slightly sweet, made with pumpkin flesh, a little flour and one egg, and dressed in the simplest way home cooking knows, with melted butter and sage and a snowfall of Grana. In Venetian homes they are called *gnochi de suca*, and they are made when vegetable gardens and markets fill up with pumpkins, from October into winter.
Three things matter. The pumpkin, which must be firm and dry: a Marina di Chioggia or a Delica, with compact flesh, not a watery pumpkin. The cooking, which is done in the oven and not in water: boiled pumpkin soaks up water, and then it takes twice the flour to hold the dough together, which makes the gnocchi rubbery and dulls the flavour. And the flour itself, which is added a little at a time, only as much as it takes for the dough not to stick to your hands: a pumpkin gnocco is softer than a potato one, and that is how it should be.
In the glass, the Manzoni Bianco IGT from La Caneva dei Biasio, a dry, mineral Venetian white whose acidity lifts the butter and keeps the sweetness of the pumpkin in check. For those who want bubbles, the Strada Riela from Firmino Miotti, a col fondo made from Vespaiola grapes from Breganze.
The History of Pumpkin Gnocchi
Pumpkin has been at home in the Veneto for centuries, above all along the lagoon: in Chioggia and in the island vegetable gardens they grow the pumpkin that bears the town's name, the Marina di Chioggia, large, dark green and covered in bumps, which Venetians call *suca baruca*. It used to be sold by the slice, baked in the oven, in the streets and at markets, and its floury, sweet flesh went into many home dishes: risottos, soups, fillings, and gnocchi.
Pumpkin gnocchi are a country, family dish with no codified recipe: every household has its own amount of flour, some add the egg and some don't, some add a handful of breadcrumbs to dry out the dough. The dressing, on the other hand, is almost always the same, butter and sage, because it lets the pumpkin speak. Towards Friuli and in the mountains, Grana is replaced with grated smoked ricotta, whose smoky flavour acts as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the dough.
Ingredients
For the gnocchi
- pumpkin (Marina di Chioggia or Delica), already cleaned1 kg
- type 00 flour250 g
- egg1
- grated Grana Padano40 g
- nutmegto taste
- fine saltto taste
For the dressing
- butter80 g
- sage12 leaves
- grated Grana Padano50 g
- black pepperto taste
Nutritional Values per Serving
Values calculated from the recipe's ingredients using the CREA food composition tables, and from the labels of our products where available. They are an estimate per serving, not a laboratory analysis.
Equipment Needed
- Baking tray and baking paper
- Potato ricer
- Pastry board
- Dough scraper or knife
- Wide pot for cooking
- Slotted spoon
- Wide frying pan
Tip: The potato ricer matters more than it seems: it presses the pumpkin without whipping or heating it, and leaves the stringy fibres in the basket. A stick blender, which looks handier, reduces it to a runny purée, and bringing that back takes a lot more flour. If you have no potato ricer, a fork will do, mashing for a long time.
How to Make Pumpkin Gnocchi — Venetian Recipe
The pumpkin
Cut the pumpkin into thick slices, without the skin or seeds, and lay them on the tray lined with baking paper. Bake them at 180 °C for about 40-45 minutes, until tender and dry on the surface. Press the flesh through the potato ricer while still hot and leave it to cool, spread out in a bowl, so it lets off steam.
Chef's tip: The pumpkin must be baked, never boiled: in water it fills up with water, and the dough would then want twice the flour. If the flesh is still moist after cooking, stir it in a pan over low heat for a couple of minutes.
The dough
Add the egg, the Grana, a pinch of salt and a grating of nutmeg to the lukewarm flesh. Work in the flour a little at a time, mixing with a spoon and then with your hands, until you have a soft dough that no longer sticks to your fingers. Do not knead it for long: it just needs to be smooth.
Chef's tip: The amount of flour depends on the pumpkin: a dry pumpkin needs less, a watery one more. Before shaping all the gnocchi, cook one in boiling water: if it falls apart, add a spoonful of flour to the dough.
The gnocchi
Flour the pastry board and divide the dough into pieces. Roll each piece into a rope as thick as a finger and cut it into 2 centimetre pieces. Bring plenty of salted water to the boil and cook the gnocchi a few at a time: when they float to the surface, wait one minute, then lift them out with the slotted spoon.
Chef's tip: Cook them in several batches: if you drop in too many at once the water stops boiling, and the gnocchi stay on the bottom and stick.
Butter and sage
While the gnocchi cook, melt the butter in the pan with the sage leaves over medium heat, until the butter turns hazelnut brown and the sage is crisp. Tip the drained gnocchi into the pan with a spoonful of their cooking water, toss them for a minute and serve at once with the grated Grana and a grinding of pepper.
Chef's tip: Take the butter off the heat as soon as it turns hazelnut brown and smells toasty: a moment later it turns dark and bitter.
Wine to Pair with Pumpkin Gnocchi
Pumpkin gnocchi are a sweet dish that comes to the table as a first course, and the wine is chosen starting from there. Oven-roasted pumpkin brings real sugar into the dough and an aroma reminiscent of chestnut, and nutmeg adds a warm spice. The dressing is the simplest in Venetian cooking: melted butter with sage, sizzling and turning hazelnut brown, and a snowfall of Grana. What stays in the mouth, then, is sweetness, fat and a herbal aroma, with no acidity at all: no tomato, no wine in the cooking. Two rules follow from this. Tannin must be left out, because against the sweetness of the pumpkin a red turns bitter and drying. And freshness is needed, to lift the butter off the palate and keep the sweetness from tiring by the third forkful. We suggest two routes: a still white, dry and mineral, or a col fondo, where the bubbles also help to cleanse the mouth.
Recommended White Wine
Manzoni Bianco IGT — La Caneva dei Biasio — The **Manzoni Bianco IGT from La Caneva dei Biasio** is the white the Veneto invented at home, a cross between Riesling Renano and Pinot Bianco, here vinified and rested in steel only. With pumpkin gnocchi it works by contrast. The sip is dry and firm, and its acidity does the job the dish cannot do on its own: it clears the butter from the palate and keeps the sweetness of the pumpkin in check, so every forkful arrives like the first. The mineral note answers the savouriness of the Grana, and the scent of broom flowers sits well beside the sage instead of covering it. The absence of oak matters: there is no vanilla or toastiness to pile onto the brown butter. The limit should be said: it is a young, medium-bodied white, at 12,5% vol, and against the sweetness of the pumpkin it stays drier than the dish; those who prefer a wine that resembles it will find the nutmeg spice little echoed. Serve it at 10-12 °C.
Want to know more about the grape? our guide to Manzoni Bianco
The Col Fondo Route
Strada Riela Bottle-Refermented — Firmino Miotti — Those who want bubbles with butter will find in the **Strada Riela from Firmino Miotti** a col fondo frizzante from Vespaiola grapes, the variety of Breganze, refermented in the bottle with no added sulphites and left on the lees for at least 24 months. Here two things cleanse the mouth: the wine's acidity and its fine bubbles, which lift the butter with every sip and leave the palate ready for the next gnocco. Aromas of grapefruit and orange peel bring to the pumpkin a fresh, slightly bitter note that the sweetness of the dish lacks, and the structure the product sheet notes for a frizzante lets it hold its own beside the Grana. The limit is its character: it is a rustic, slightly hazy wine, and anyone who pours it cloudy will taste the bread crust of the lees more than the fruit. At 11,5% vol it is light: serve it at 8 °C.
Want to know more about the grape? our guide to col fondo wine
Craft Beer as an Alternative
Witty Weizen Beer — Norah's Farm — A Weizen with pumpkin gnocchi works because of the spices. The **Witty Weizen from Norah's Farm**, brewed in the Venetian foothills, has the notes typical of the style: banana, bread crust and a finish of cloves. Clove belongs to the same family of warm spices as the nutmeg that perfumes the dough, and the banana keeps the sweetness of the pumpkin company instead of contrasting it. The tangy note the product sheet mentions and the carbonation clean the butter from the palate, while the hops, which the producer rates at zero, add no bitterness to a sweet dish. The limit lies in the balance: the beer is itself on the sweet side, and with heavily dressed gnocchi the sum of sweetness can weigh; with a measured dressing of butter and sage it works better. At 5,3% vol, serve it at 6-8 °C, in a tall glass.
Want to know more about the style? wheat beers
Serve It With
With butter and Grana in them, pumpkin gnocchi are a rich dish, and they call for something fresh and slightly bitter alongside. In the Veneto, in autumn, the answer is radicchio: a salad of Treviso or Castelfranco radicchio dressed with oil, vinegar and salt, whose bitterness cleans the sweetness of the pumpkin from the mouth.
If the gnocchi open a longer meal, they are well followed by main courses of white meat and poultry, a guinea fowl or a roast chicken, which do not clash with the butter and spice of the first course.
Variations
- With smoked ricotta: instead of Grana in the dressing, grate smoked ricotta over the gnocchi. It is the Friulian, mountain version, and the smoky flavour acts as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the pumpkin.
- With amaretti: in the Mantuan style, three or four crisp amaretti are crumbled into the dough, bringing a bittersweet, almond note. The Venetian home version leaves them out, but anyone who loves pumpkin tortelli will recognise it.
- Without egg: many families leave it out and bind the dough with flour alone. The gnocchi come out more delicate and more fragile, and you need an extra spoonful of flour.
- Baked: the cooked, drained gnocchi go into a buttered baking dish, are dressed with the butter and sage and more Grana, and are gratinated for ten minutes at 200 °C. It is the easiest way to prepare them ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pumpkin should I use for gnocchi?
A pumpkin with **firm, dry flesh**, not very watery: the **Marina di Chioggia**, the Venetian pumpkin par excellence, or the **Delica**. Avoid pumpkins with soft, stringy flesh, which release water and force you to add a lot of flour.
Why should the pumpkin be baked and not boiled?
Because in water the pumpkin fills up with water, and holding a moist dough together takes much more flour: the gnocchi come out rubbery and taste less of pumpkin. **In the oven the flesh dries out** and concentrates its sugar, and the dough needs little flour.
How much flour do pumpkin gnocchi need?
For 1 kg of cleaned pumpkin you need **about 250 g of flour**, but the exact amount depends on how dry the pumpkin is. Add it a little at a time, and test-cook one gnocco before shaping the rest: if it falls apart, it needs an extra spoonful of flour.
Can pumpkin gnocchi be frozen?
Yes, **uncooked**. Spread them apart on a floured tray, put them in the freezer until hard and then gather them into a bag. Cook them still frozen, straight into boiling water, waiting one extra minute after they float to the surface.
What wine goes with pumpkin gnocchi?
A **dry, fresh, unoaked white**, whose acidity lifts the butter and keeps the sweetness of the pumpkin in check: a Venetian **Manzoni Bianco** fits well. Those who prefer bubbles can choose a **col fondo**, which also cleanses the mouth with its perlage. The tannin of reds turns bitter against pumpkin.
