Don’t throw away your Halloween pumpkins!

Pumpkins are nutritious, delicious and a good source of fibre. This year, instead of discarding your Jack O’Lantern, why not try a delicious pumpkin recipe like this easy pumpkin gnocchi. Gnocchi might seem like hard things to make, but it’s incredibly easy, and because of the softness of the pumpkin flesh as opposed to a potato, you don’t even need to use a potato ricer to get a smooth finish. Here, we’ve served our gnocchi with seasonal green: cavolo nero, which is high in iron, alongside olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, basil and parmesan. Think of the sauce as a kind of deconstructed pesto.

Boost your immune system: Pumpkin gives you a good dose of beta carotene, which is partially converted into vitamin A. Vitamin A can help your body fight infections.

Pumpkin gnocchi with cavolo nero 

Ingredients (serves 4)

Gnocchi dough:

• 1/2 medium-sized pumpkin
• 350g 00 flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 medium egg
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Sauce:

• 25g salted butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Half a bunch cavolo nero (or spinach)
• Handful fresh basil
• 1 tbsp pine nuts 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated parmesan to serve

Method:

1. Roast your pumpkin in the oven on 180-200 degrees (170 fan) for 30-40 minutes until tender. 
2. Scrape out the flesh of the pumpkin, leaving nothing left on the skin and mash in a bowl with a potato masher or fork. 
3. In a large mixing bowl (or straight onto the work surface if you’re brave), pour in/on your 00 flour and make a well for the wet ingredients. 
4. Add your pumpkin flesh, egg, olive oil and salt to the flour and combine first with a fork, and then with your hands. 
5. If the mixture is too wet, add more flour. If  the mixture is too dry, add a splash of warm water or olive oil.
6. Combine to form a soft dough. Be careful not to over-knead your dough as this will make the gnocchi tough and chewy. 
7. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes before rolling into sausages about 1.5-2cm in diameter. 
8. Cut the sausages to form little oblong pillows and dust in flour to avoid sticking together before boiling. 
9. Prepare a large pot of boiling, salted water to cook the gnocchi.
10. Sauce: meanwhile, in a large frying pan, melt your butter and olive oil together before adding finely sliced or chopped garlic, cavolo nero and basil. 
11. On a medium heat, allow the cavolo nero to crisp a little, but watch not to burn the garlic or pine nuts. Once sufficiently fragrant, turn off the heat.
12. Back to the gnocchi. Gently pour the dumplings into the pan. Make sure your pan is large enough, or cook the gnocchi in batches to avoid clumping. 
13. Gnocchi are very quick to cook, and you’ll know they’re ready when they float to the surface of the water.
14. Reserve a ladleful of starchy pasta waster and add the strained gnocchi, and pasta water, gently to the frying pan with sauce. 
15. Stir gently to incorporate. Finish with a final dusting of parmesan, black pepper and an extra glug of olive oil. Enjoy!

Recipe by Cristina Proietti @cupboard.creations