Pumpkin Gnocchi with Browned Sage Butter

This is another delicious recipe using pumpkin.  I love gnocchi at baseline and if you just want to try gnocchi first before making these, look at my gnocchi recipes I posted earlier this year. It is difficult as we enter the winter season to keep our meals local and this recipe takes advantage of those ingredients you can still buy locally or that you put in winter storage.  If you don't have a sage bush planted in your yard, you need to plant one next year since you can use the leaves for seasoning all year round and the bush itself is a perennial and can survive our cold winters. The pumpkin is a delicious addition to the gnocchi and the browned sage butter just adds a savory touch to the dish. Hope you enjoy these gnocchi!

Finished gnocchi with wilted fresh spinach and shaved parmesan cheese

Ingredients:

1 cup homemade ricotta cheese (see earlier post)
1 cup pureed pumpkin (last bought at the Farmers Market)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (Gold Creek Cheese)
2 large egg yolks (Clifford Family Farm)
2 tsp. lemon zest
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. Redmond Sea Salt
2 cups flour (we use freshly milled)
3 tbls. butter, divided (Winder Farms)
3 tbls. olive oil, divided
12-15 sage leaves (Our herb garden)
optional: fresh spinach (Utah Farms CSA)

1. Combine ricotta, pumpkin, parmesan cheese, egg yolk, lemon zest, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle 1 cup of the flour on the pumpkin mixture and gently mix with a spatula a few times to incorporate the flour.  Add additional flour in small amounts and incorporate gently. Don't knead too much or you will end up with a fairly dense, instead of light and fluffy, gnocchi.  Place dough on a clean, lightly floured surface and gently knead with your fingertips. The dough is ready when you press your finger into the dough and it is tacky but clean.
2. Prepare large cookie sheet with parchment paper that is lightly floured.
3. Divide dough into 8 parts. Take one part and roll out with your hands into a 1" diameter log. Using a knife that has been dipped in flour, cut gnocchi into 1" pieces. Place pieces on prepared cookie sheet until all 8 pieces have been cut into gnocchi.
4. Heat a large frying pain with 3 tbl. each of butter and olive oil. When hot, add the fresh sage and cook until the sage is sizzling and brown. Remove the sage and reduce heat to medium. Add a few gnocchi at at time to cover the surface of the pan. Gnocchi should not touch each other. Fry on medium heat for 1-2 minutes, turn and cook an additional 1-2 minutes or until browned. Remove gnocchi and garnish with additional grated parmesan cheese. Keep warm in 250 F oven until all batches are fried.
Options:
---add 2 tbls. of good quality balsamic vinegar to the pan after frying all the gnocchi and whisk over low heat.  Pour over the gnocchi.