What I had for dinner #2

The second in an occasional series, as if the title hadn't already told you that.

Last night we attempted and eventually succeeded in making butternut squash gnocchi. It was a recipe straight out of the fantastic Paradiso Seasons by Dennis Cotter, though I overlooked one crucial part - he used pumpkin where I used butternut squash.

The problem with this is that butternut squash can be a lot wetter than pumpkin when cooked; something that endangered the gnocchi. It meant that more flour and Parmesan than ideal was necessary to ensure a good consistency for the dough, but it worked in the end.

To summarise, here's the recipe kind of from memory, though I recommend you buy the book.

1. Chop pumpkin or squash into cubes and roast it, along with some garlic cloves still in their skins.
2. When cooked, let it cool and then mash the pumpkin/squash in a bowl.
3. Fold in some flour and grated Parmesan cheese. You will probably want to use more flour than cheese unless you're rich. You should end up with a stiff dough.
   
4. Roll out the dough into one or more long sausages and cut this into 2cm long chunks. Keep these covered in flour to stop them sticking together.
5. For the sauce, squeeze the garlic from its skin into a mixture of half stock, half white wine. You probably want about 150mls of liquid. Liquidise the mixture and then sieve it into a pan. Reduce it by half and add some cream, 150mls will do. Heat this through, season with salt & pepper and add some chopped chives.
6. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water until it rises to the surface, some 2-4 minutes. Don't crowd the gnocchi, you'd be better off cooking it in a couple of batches. Put it into individual serving bowls with some wilted spinach and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and pop under the grill until just starting to colour.
7. Eat it. Really quickly. If your fellow diners can't be bothered to sit down, start with out them. I mean, why can't they go to the toilet and wash their hands when you say "Ready in 5 minutes!", eh? No, they have to do it right at the last moment and let the food get cold. Well, they can eat theirs cold, but I'm not waiting and I suggest you don't either. So there.