Diva Does Dough meets Meatless Monday!

Darlings!  If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you would surely know by now that La Diva has a distaste for making dough at home.  And not just the dough you bake, but really any kind of savory dough consisting of flour, water and eggs.  (And no, darlings, we are NOT talking about cookie dough, unfortunately, La Diva has NO PROBLEM whatsoever with cookie dough.)

The fact is, La Diva cannot seem to consistently crank out decent dough like many others do without batting an eyelash, even those with much less kitchen experience, and that, my friends, IS THE BANE MY CULINARY EXISTENCE.   

After debacles battling with dried out, ripped sheets of phyllo dough,  too tough pie crust you couldn't cut with a knife (let alone a fork,) dumplings that crumble upon contact with boiling water or "hard as rocks" bread dough that never quite rose, La Diva has learned to just leave well enough alone and let all matters of dough making fall to more qualified, perhaps more experienced and definitely more patient haands.

It was with this resigned attitude that I found myself staring at two small but whole pumpkins in my fridge, taking up space on the bottom shelf in the rear, and going on week three of their residence.  La Diva was tired of pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin mash, pumpkin curry and pumpkin pancakes.  What ELSE could I do with this sunny squash?  After all, I DO really love pumpkin but I love my fridge space even more and didn't want to extend its life any longer, it HAD to be eaten.  Not to mention the simple fact that La Diva had just bought a few bottles of wine and was out of room in the fridge!   (It's all about priorities, darlings.)

I don't know exactly what it was that reminded me of it but for some reason a dish from years ago popped into my little La Diva head.  I recalled dinners while living in Sydney, where we would enjoy delicate pillows of light and lovely pumpkin gnocchi.  Pumpkin.  Gnocchi.  Yes.  I had never actually made it at home though, for it was readily available at all the grocery stores. Dare I attempt dough yet again?  I DID have some success with my last challenge of making my own pasta....and my father insisted that home made gnocchi was EASY.   After all, HE actually makes his own and it's quite good, or so he claims.   I'd like to add that my father, like me, is not one known for his patience.  Hmmm.....

So, the ever-prevailing La Diva browsed about the Internets for a bit looking at ideas for semolina gnocchi, potato gnocchi and pumpkin gnocchi.  I found a recipe and some photos of another blogger who made a really easy pumpkin gnocchi using fresh pumpkin.  Her comments indicated success from readers and I decided, with trepidation, to try the dreaded dough once again.

La Diva LOVES this dark photo and oddly enough, understands the poor Cookie Monster's addiction.  I am in recovery for this myself.

The instructions were easy enough.  Cut about a pound of pumpkin into slices, douse with olive oil and put on a baking tray.  Ok.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.  Ok.  Mash with fork.  Ah, no.  I took the skin off with a paring knife and while doing that, I noticed that the pumpkin, a Japanese Kabocha, was quite starchy and fluffly like a potato, a good sign.  I put it into my food processor and processed until it form a dough ball resembling a bright orange Play-Doh.  I removed it and then put the pumpkin into a bowl and by hand, mixed through some freshly grated nutmeg and a bit of salt.  Then I added one egg and about 100g of flour, making sure to knead all the ingredients in well.

The dough was kind of dry.  Uh oh.  I REALLY WANTED TO SEE SUCCESS!  And if La Diva knows one thing, if it's dry before it's cooked, chances are, it will be dry afterward.  I continued kneading anyway without adding any more flour.   I lightly dusted the granite counter top with a bit of flour, scooped a bit of pumpkin dough out with a tablespoon and rolled it between my hands and then on the counter, until it formed a thick, even rope.  I quickly cut 1/2 inch segments with a dough cutter and put the dainty pillows onto a flour dusted silicon mat and set aside.  That's it.

WHA?  THAT'S it?!

Yep.  All I had to do now was gently boil the little suckers until they floated to the top, scoop out with a slotted spoon and they was ready for a' saucin'! 

But what kind of sauce?  So many recipes called for pumpkin gnocchi to be served with brown butter and sage.  To be honest, darlings, I'm not a huge fan of the brown butter sauce.  Therefore, I like my butter melted but not browned, thank you.   I would certainly have preferred a rich, creamy gorgonzola sauce, but La Diva was not about to go to the store for one sole ingredient.  Also, my reasoning was that if the dumplings did not turn out, my investment of butter and a few herbs was negligible.  So, I simply served the gnocchi with melted butter infused with dried marjoram and sage and you know what?  It was just fine!  I added some freshly grated Pecorino and dug in.

RESULT:  Ahhhhhh......Little pillows of pumpkin loveliness!!!!  Divinity!  Heavenly!  Yummy!  What pleased La Diva SO MUCH was the light texture they had!  The dumplings were not gooey or gummy and certainly not tough.  The consistency was delightful and not the heavy, dense nuggets I thought they were going to be.  The subtle but effective herb butter sauce was perfect, as the focus could stay on the nutty flavor of the pumpkin.

Recipes indicated that after cutting the gnocchi,  putting a small indentation in each little pillow (with your finger or a fork tine) would allow the dumpling to capture more of the sauce.  La Diva found this step unnecessary and was certain it would drain the pittance of my precious patience, so I decided then and there that if I wanted to capture more sauce, I would simply eat the gnocchi with a spoon.  And I did.

La Diva was very, very satisfied with her tiny triumph!   And DJ Nevah L8 was especially so knowing that I had half of the darling dumplings frozen  and ready for the next luscious dinner.  And this time, YES, there will be gorgonzola cream sauce! 

Ciao for now, darlings!
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