Kabocha Squash Gnocchi {paleo}

I’ve made lots of gnocchi in my day. Well I’ve made a few recipes anyway. Potato gnocchi. Semolina gnocchi. Pumpkin gnocchi. And today I made a paleo gnocchi with what I believe to be Kabocha squash. I say believe to be because I also had a jar of pumpkin puree in my freezer but I’m pretty sure I lost it a few weeks ago when I realized the jar had cracked and I had to throw the whole thing away. So we are going with that this was made with Kabocha squash puree.

I haven’t made gnocchi in a number of years though I did eat some store-bought kind a few weeks ago in soup my mom made. It occurred to me when I was boiling the gnocchi this afternoon that gnocchi is much like egg dumplings except that when my family makes egg dumplings they are done after you boil them. The texture of this gnocchi is dumpling like as well. Crispy on the outside from pan-frying them but kind of soft and chewy on the inside. Like a dumpling.

It is imperative that when rolling the dough out lots of tapioca starch is used. I was better with some pieces of dough than others and found that when I went to boil the gnocchi most of the pieces stuck to the pan and then kind of got weird and deformed looking once I wrestle them away from the pan and plopped them into the boiling water. That being said, overall, I was very pleased with the results. This is a good paleo alternative to the regular potato gnocchi. I modeled the below recipe after a sweet potato gnocchi recipe found at Paleo Grubs.

ingredients.

2 c. Squash purée
4 c. almond flour
1 ½ c. tapioca powder, plus more for dusting
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 egg
grass-fed butter
fresh herbs, such as thyme (or sage)

directions.

Add the flour, tapioca starch, salt, baking soda, garlic powder and egg to the squash puree. Stir well to combine. Refrigerate the dough for at least 60 minutes.
Dust a work surface with tapioca starch. Roll out a handful of the chilled dough into a long thin rope. Cut into 1-inch segments. Place on baking sheet or platter. Use a fork to slightly flatten each segment.
Prepare a large pot of barely boiling water and throw a pinch of salt into it. Working in small batches, drop each piece of gnocchi into the water. Let cook for about about two minutes after the gnocchi begin to float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into a colander to drain.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add fresh herbs. Sear the gnocchi on each side to brown. Serve immediately.

The most time consuming part of making gnocchi is rolling out the dough. I think I rolled mine out too thick as the size of my gnocchi (once boiled) was more like tater tots. I don’t believe gnocchi is supposed to be that big! Bigger isn’t always better, right?

This gnocchi also tastes good mixed with a basil pesto sauce, which isn’t quite paleo, but shh! Don’t tell anyone.

Recipe rating: 