Pumpkin Sage Gnocchi

Hey friends,

I hope you're not all pumpkin'd out just yet... winter hasn't even begun so I'm still on the pumpkin train! I usually don't get off until spring has sprung. I've made the recipe a few times and I'm not sure why I haven't posted it yet. Its wonderful! My littlest boy loves it and it is really quite simple to make.

Most of the recipes for pumpkin or sweet potato gnocchi that I came across had a sage/brown butter sauce that was poured on top. I decided this time to try and roll some sage leave in some the gnocchi so you get the wonderful flavour along with the delicate chew of the pillows. It turned out fabulously and I ended up serving it with sage leaves fried in coconut oil as well and didn't need any butter or butter sub. And I really liked the combo of fresh tasting sage with the toasted sage. (As I'm typing this I'm thinking that adding a bunch of crumbled fried sage to the dough would be super-fantastic...) If you can tolerate dairy, a sprinkle of parm would be utterly delicious on top.

Please ignore my imperfect gnocchi... I've only made them a few times and I'm still trying to get the hang of shaping them properly. But, it doesn't matter how they look... they taste delicious no matter what!


Pumpkin Sage Gnocchi

2 c GF flour blend (I used Namaste)
1 1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp sea salt
a few grounds of fresh pepper

sage leaves (about 10)
1 tbsp coconut oil
nutritional yeast for topping

Place flour, pumpkin and seasonings into a large bowl. Use your hands to combine and form a smooth dough. If it's too sticky add more flour. When you press your finger into the dough it should create a smooth indent without leaving anything stuck on your finger.
Form the dough into a ball and cut into 4 even pieces.
Take a chunk of dough and roll it out with your hands until you have an even log about the diameter of a nickle. Press it down with your fingers to flatten. Place small sage leaves along the length of the dough. Fold over and pinch to seal and create a smooth, rounded log again.
Cut into bite size piece and press onto a fork, if desired. (This is supposed to help any sauce stick better.) Set aside. *
Set a large pot of salted water on to boil over high heat.
Roll out remaining dough into logs and cut, omitting the sage or it will be too overpowering.
When all piece are cut and shaped as desired set a small frying pan with the coconut oil on to heat over medium.
When the water is boiling carefully add the gnocchi and boil until they float (about 3 minutes.)
While the gnocchi are boiling carefully add remaining sage leaves to the oil and fry until golden. Remove leaves from heat and place on a paper towel to drain, reserving oil.
Drain gnocchi when they are done. Drizzle with a tiny bit of hot coconut oil to keep them from sticking together.
Serve with fried sage, extra salt and pepper and a good sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

*The pieces with the sage inside are a little awkward to shape, but if you use small pieces of sage it won't be too hard!

See that little bit of sage tucked into at gnocchi? Yum.

Who's bored of seeing my same bowls over and over??? I need to invest in some fun dishes, placemats/fabric and props to make my photos better... if you've got anything that you'd like to donate to me, I won't turn your down! :)

Pasta with Pumpkin Cheeze Sauce

Cheese spelled with the 'z' is cool.

And cheeze = non-dairy cheese.

I'm full of useful tips like that. You're welcome.

I adore cashew cheeze sauce and make it every few weeks. The boy and I have it over noodles for lunch all of the time and he just loves it. Right now my favourite GF pasta is from Costco. It's Felicia penne and it's a blend of buckwheat, corn and rice. Love it. It's a nice change from plain old rice noodles and since I'm allergic to a bunch of other grains, I can't enjoy some of the other pastas. This penne has a wonderful flavour and texture and I highly recommend you grab some if you have a Costco membership! I was toying with the idea of posting the cashew sauce on here but decided against it. Even though I can tolerate cashews, so many people are allergic to nuts and I want everyone to be able to enjoy the recipes I post on here.

But this recipe is great! I had seen a recipe for butternut squash pasta and was going to try and make my own version, so I bought a squash. It's still on the counter... This recipe would work wonderfully with roasted, pureed squash but I had pumpkin in the fridge (when do I not?) and searched for a pumpkin cheeze recipe instead. I love Angela's blog (Oh She Glows) - so many of her recipes are adaptable for me. I changed a few things and will write down my version below but you can view her recipe here. She also has the nutritional info there on her site. Nutritional yeast is good stuff - complete protein, fiber and good old B12 are in those delicious flakes!

Pasta with Pumpkin Cheeze Sauce

2 c dry GF pasta, cooked according to directions
1 tbsp Earth Balance or other dairy-free butter sub
3/4 - 1 c rice milk or milk of choice
1 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
2 tsp mustard powder
1/3 c nutritional yeast
1 c pumpkin puree
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg (or two)
1/2 tsp GF soy sauce or miso (optional)
pumpkin pie spice for serving (optional)

In a medium pot, melt Earth Balance. Add about 1/2 c rice milk and bring to a boil over med-high heat.
In a small bowl whisk together remaining 1/4 milk, arrowroot and mustard powder. Pour into the boiling milk, stirring to prevent lumps. Boil until thickened and reduce heat to medium.
Stir in yeast and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in pumpkin and spices and allow to come to a boil.
If sauce is too thick, pour in addition milk (about 1/4 c) until desired thickness. Remove from heat and stir in soy sauce/miso.
Taste and adjust the flavours to your liking. You may need to add more salt if you leave out the soy sauce/miso.
Pour over hot noodles and top with more fresh pepper and a dash of pie spice.
Inhale.


*Angela adds in 1/4 tsp garlic powder along with the arrowroot, feel free to add it in if you like!

Pumpkin Spice Granola

So it turns out that even though I'm pretty much at home most days with plenty of blogging potential, I don't often have access to our Mac for writing and posting... Even though I grew up using a PC, when I use the one we have for the kids it just feels so foreign now. I have no desire to try and plug my camera into the Piece of Crap and try and figure out how to upload pics when there isn't a proper photo program. With a Mac everything is just so easy and uncomplicated. Nothing to install - just plug your device in and it recognizes it! Wonderful.

Anyway... I've had a few recipe fails lately too and have been unmotivated to try new things. I'm tending to stick to my favourite, trust worthy recipes as well as baking some new allergy-FULL goodies for those in my family who can tolerate them. Have you tried the New York Times chocolate chip cookies? Dang skippy, they are delicious... I really shouldn't have them, but I just had to try a warm, crunchy, yet chewy cookie when they smelled so wonderful! I really wish allergy friendly chocolate chip cookies could be so good. Perhaps that will be my new mission... I need something to keep me motivated in the kitchen!
So, I've had my eye pumpkin spice granola for a while and I really don't know why I took so long to make it! I love granola but haven't made my own before. Its really very easy though! I'm imaging pumpkin muffins with this granola on top... yum!

Pumpkin Spice Granola

2 c GF rolled oats
1 c GF steel cut oats (or just more regular oats, if you don't have steel cut)
1 c crisp rice cereal (I used Nature's Path)
1 c popped amaranth
1/2 c dried, unsweeted coconut
1/4 c hemp seeds (I'm sure flax seed would be good too)
1/4 c pumpkin seeds/pepitas
1 c pumpkin puree
1/2 maple syrup (or honey)
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 300F.
In a large bowl combine oats, cereal, amaranth, coconut and seeds.
In a smaller bowl mix together the pumpkin, syrup, spice, salt and vanilla.
Pour the pumpkin mixture over the oat mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Make sure there are no dry pieces!
Dump the mixture into a roasting pan (or two rimmed baking sheets) and spread out evenly.
Bake for 1 hour to an hour and a half, stirring every 10 minutes, until crispy.
Allow to cool before grabbing handfuls and stuffing your face.

*If desired, you could add in some dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, etc.) after the granola had cooled.