Butternut squash gnocchi with mushrooms, parsley, a simple red sauce and a sesame miso white sauce
The squash makes the gnocchi soft and pillowy while the sauteed herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and nutritional yeast, as well as the red and white sauces add a range of flavours and colours to the plate.
Ingredients
For the gnocchi
2 cups cooked butternut squash
2 cups hard wheat flour
1 liter water
1 1/4t coarse sea salt, divided
2T ground flax seeds
1T olive oil
1T nutritional yeast
For the mushrooms and parsley
2T olive oil
1/4t sea salt
3 scallions, minced (3″ of green reserved for garnish)
1T fresh garlic, minced
1T capers, minced
1t dried basil, rubbed
1t dried oregano, rubbed
1/2t dried thyme, rubbed
200g cremini mushrooms, in 1/2″ slices
2T apple cider vinegar
1 cup flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped (a few sprigs
set aside for garnish)
2T nutritional yeast
2T sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
For the red sauce
2T gnocchi water
1 cup passata (or tomato puree)
1/4t coarse sea salt
1T olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper (or other seasonings) to taste
For the white sauce
1/4 cup sesame seed butter
2t white miso
1T lemon juice
3-5T cold water
Sea salt to taste
Directions
Make the gnocchi first, then the vegetables, then the sauces.
Combine the squash, flour, flax and 1/4t sea salt and mix well to form a dough.
Bring the water and 1t of sea salt to a boil in a large pot.
Pinch the dough in 2t sizes and roll into balls. You can decorate by pressing with a fork if you want to be
traditional (this also helps the sauce to cling).
When the balls are ready, drop half into the boiling water and swirl gently.
Boil until the balls start to float (perhaps 3-5 minutes –but they’ll float when done).
Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Boil the remaining gnocchi until done and set aside.
Toss with 1T olive oil and 2T nutritional yeast.
Reserve 2T of the pasta water for the red sauce.
In a large frying pan, bring the cooking oil and sea salt to heat on medium high.
Add the scallion and saute for 2 minutes.
Add the garlic and the rest of the herbs and saute for 1 minute.
Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes until the pan starts to brown.
Add the apple cider vinegar and deglaze.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 5-7 minutes.
While the mushrooms simmer, make the red and white sauces.
In a small sauce pan, bring the oil and sea salt to heat on medium high.
Add the passata and gnocchi water and simmer on medium low for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
In a small cup or bowl, mix the sesame, lemon, miso and sea salt.
Add 3T of cold water to start.
Add more if necessary to achieve a white sauce consistency.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and nutritional yeast to the mushrooms and stir to combine.
Add the parsley and saute for 3 minutes.
Add the gnocchi and saute for another 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside 1 minute to cool.
Plate gnocchi and add 1/4 of the red sauce in a wider circle and then 1/4 of the white sauce in dollops.
Drip a little red sauce around the plate for added presentation value.
Garnish with thinly sliced scallion greens and parsley around the plate.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!