Gluten-free pumpkin gnocchi
Gnocchi, or ñoquis, are, literally and as their name indicates (from the Italian singular "gnocco"), boiled balls of dough. These balls are usually made from potato and flour, but as we see in this recipe, they can also be made with other ingredients such as pumpkin, resulting in gnocchi that are more nutritious, tender and eye-catching.
This is a classic of Italian cuisine dating from the 18th century and, without a doubt, we can say it is the easiest "pasta" dish to make, since it not only requires few ingredients but the process is also very simple.
Its creation was born of necessity: until it was invented, people usually ate so-called zanzarelli and malfatti made from wheat flour, but in 1880 Italian peasants suffered a rise in the price of wheat flour because of the increased taxes that feudal lords imposed for grinding wheat. This brought out the villagers' ingenuity, leading them to try cooking with mashed potatoes, which let them make dishes with as little wheat flour as possible thanks to the cohesion provided by potato starch.
Since they are made with very cheap ingredients, it became customary to eat them on the 29th of each month, because they were ideal for when money, like the month, was running out.
These pumpkin gnocchi are ideal for benefiting from the nutrients of this delicious vegetable and its advantageous nutritional quality compared to potato, and since they contain no egg, they let us enjoy soft, light, cholesterol-free gnocchi.
In addition, as they contain no gluten, they are also suitable for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance, or for those who simply want to reduce their intake.
The most delicious way to eat them is with a tasty sauce, such as pesto rosso or pesto alla genovese with cashew parmesan sprinkled on top.
Thus, nutritionally, these gnocchi are not only free of gluten and cholesterol but also rich in carotenes, fiber, coumarins, lycopene, carbohydrates, vitamins C, E, K and the B group (B1, B2, B3, B6 and B9, or folic acid), calcium, copper, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium and zinc.
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- Step 1We preheat the oven to 175 °C and, while it's heating up, we peel, wash and chop the pumpkin.
- Step 2We put the chopped pumpkin in an ovenproof dish and bake it at 175 °C for 30 minutes, until it is very dry, taking care that it does not burn.
- Step 3Once the pumpkin is baked, pass it through a food mill so there are no lumps and transfer it to a large bowl.
- Step 4In another bowl, mix the rice flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Once the ingredients are well combined, gradually add the mixture to the bowl with the pumpkin and knead. Keep adding the flour and starch mixture just until the dough has a good consistency and no longer sticks to your hands.
- Step 5On a clean surface, sprinkle a little rice flour and take portions of dough from the bowl, roll them over themselves and form elongated cylinders approximately 1.5 cm thick.
- Step 6With a knife, we cut the cylinders into pieces of approximately 1.5 cm; we pass the ends of each one through rice flour, removing any excess flour, and roll them on the inside of a fork to make the characteristic indentations.
- Step 7In a pot, heat water and, when it starts to boil, add the gnocchi in batches. Cook them for 2 or 3 minutes and, when they start to float, remove them with a slotted spoon. Put them in a colander to drain and, when they are well drained, serve them with the sauce of your choice.