Pumpkin Gnocchi & Honey-Roasted Pistachios
With fresh thyme and dinosaur kale
With fresh thyme and dinosaur kale
This is absolutely some of my finest work: it is the most cozy and repeatable Autumn dinner. This only takes 15 minutes to make (!!!) and is better than a lot of plates of pasta that I’ve had at a lot of restaurants, tbqh. I’d make this for anyone at any dinner party and think this would make such a fantastic hosting dish—what with the very minimal amount of effort and the incredibly impressive results. Also, I’d like to note that I call for crème fraiche in a lot of my recipes. At my local Whole Foods, it’s very sneakily hidden at the bottom of a lunch meat fridge, and not nestled in with the specialty cheeses, the cream cheeses and yogurts, or anywhere else that makes sense, lol. So you may have to dig around for it—and if you truly can’t find it at your grocery store, sour cream or mascarpone are solid swaps!
Ingredients:
For the gnocchi
4 Tbsp butter
6 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
16 ounces gnocchi
8 oz heavy cream
2/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth, I used Roasted Chicken Better Than Bouillon dissolved in boiling water
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
Several twists of freshly ground black pepper
2 cups loosely packed dinosaur kale, stems removed and leaves torn
For the topping
1/2 cup raw or lightly salted (unroasted) pistachios, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp honey, or enough to cover the pistachios
Pinch or two of flaky salt
For serving
Dollop of crème fraiche, optional
Pinch of flaky salt
More freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F, and add the chopped pistachios to a parchment paper-lined sheet pan, covering the tops of the pistachios with honey and a pinch or two of flaky salt, and roast for 6 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
Heat 4 Tbsp butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Once foamy and bubbling (6-8 minutes), add the 6 cloves of smashed and chopped garlic and stir around the pan until fragrant, 1 min.
Add the gnocchi to the pan with 8oz. heavy cream, 2/3 cup broth, 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, 10 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 tsp. kosher salt, and several twists of freshly ground black pepper. Fold everything together, breaking up the gnocchi if they're stuck together.
Turn to high heat and cover the pan with its' lid for 4 minutes. Lower heat to medium and simmer, uncovered for 3 minutes, stirring here and there.
Remove the thyme sprigs and stir in the kale: cook until wilted, about 3 min. Taste a small piece to see if it needs another minute to soften. The gnocchi and kale should be cooked through but not mushy, and the sauce should be velvety and thick.
Peel the honey-covered pistachios off of the parchment paper: use a combo of a fork and your hands to pull them off as they’ll have crystallized and should break off pretty easily.
Serve immediately topped with a dollop of crème fraiche, the honey-roasted pistachios, a pinch of flaky salt, and another twist of freshly ground black pepper.