Hello everyone! Butternut squash is in season! Whoop whoop! In this blogpost I am sharing a dish you can make with the butternut squash you “borrowed” from your (grand)parents’ garden.
This easy gnocchi recipe is perfect for cold winter days and would also be a great dish to serve during the festive season, like Christmas or Thanksgiving. It’s creamy, full of flavours and a real eye catcher.
For this recipe, I used a smaller butternut squash (around 800 grams | 1.7 lb), but most squashes are bigger. I recommend cutting the whole squash, dicing it into cubes, and freezing the rest for later.
I used store-bought gnocchi, but if you want to make it from scratch, I have a detailed step by step tutorial on my blog showing how to prepare fresh gnocchi at home.
For the stock, I used mushroom stock, but if that’s hard to find, you can easily use vegetable stock or any other stock you like.
I combined the gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms, which pair beautifully with the natural sweetness of the butternut squash. I seasoned the mushrooms with cayenne pepper, but you can use chili flakes or chili powder if you don’t have cayenne.
To finish, I made a simple topping with cream cheese mixed with water and added a few leaves of curled parsley for freshness.
I hope you enjoy this easy gnocchi recipe as much as I do! Love gnocchi? Check out my gnocchi with butter and sage recipe here.
Gnocchi with Butternut Squash and Chanterelle Mushrooms
Adjust servings here:
Equipment
- Hand blender or regular blender
- cooking pot
- frying pan
- slotted spoon
- Oven tray
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SAUCE
- 800 grams butternut squash
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 red onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp miso paste
- to taste salt & pepper
- 500 ml mushrooms stock or use vegetable stock
CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS
- 250 grams chanterelle mushrooms
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt & pepper
OTHER
- 1 kg gnocchi
- 150 grams cream cheese
- 60 ml water
- parsley
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Clean the butternut squash with water and use a sponge to remove any dirt. Chop the squash into thick slices, about 1 cm (1/3 inch) thick. Cut the slices into sticks, then cut the sticks into dices. Leave the skin on.
- Peel the red onions and garlic. Chop the onions into quarters and the garlic cloves in halves.
- Add the butternut squash to a big mixing bowl. Add olive oil, cayenne powder, salt and pepper. Toss and coat everything evenly.
- Line an oven tray with baking paper. Spread the squash dices on the tray and add the chopped onions and garlic. Roast in the oven for 30–40 minutes or until the dices turn brownish.
- Clean the chanterelle mushrooms with a dry food brush. Brush off any dirt and cut off dark stems. Tear large mushrooms in half. Add all clean chanterelles to a mixing bowl.
- Add olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to the mushrooms. Knead with your hands to make sure the chanterelles are evenly coated.
- Transfer the chanterelles to an oven tray lined with baking paper. Roast for 10 minutes at 200°C (400°F). Ideally, add them to the oven once the butternut squash has been roasting for 25 minutes.
- Use a small bowl to mix the cream cheese with water. Use a fork or whisk to make it smooth. it should look like soft ice cream.
- Puree the roasted butternut squash with the onions and garlic. Add the stock and miso paste. Blend until smooth. OPTIONAL: push the mixture through a sieve to remove lumps and to get an extra smooth sauce.
- Boil water in a pot and add salt once it starts boiling.
- Cook the gnocchi in the boiling water for 3 minutes.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the butternut squash sauce and a splash of starchy pasta water from the gnocchi. Use a spatula to mix until smooth.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the gnocchi from the pot and transfer them directly into the pan with the sauce. Mix until the gnocchi are coated.
- PLATING: add the gnocchi with the sauce on the plates. Add 3 – 4 teaspoons of cream cheese per plate. Add the roasted chanterelles on top, add a few parsley leaves and grind a bit of pepper.
Buon appetito. Enjoy!
