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Gnocchi with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

Pumpkin would have to be one of my top 10 foods so this recipe is a particular favourite of mine. It’s so creamy and velvety that you’d think it’s a heavy, creamy sauce when instead it’s pretty much just vegetables. This makes it a great way to sneak more veggies into your diet without sacrificing flavour. You can also get mix it up a bit by adding different spices, herbs or vegetables into the sauce if you’d like!

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a pile of gnocchi coated in a creamy pumpkin sauce covered in strips of basil and grated cheese on a dark blue plate

How to Make Pumpkin Gnocchi

Although it might appear intimidating because it’s out of the ordinary, there’s nothing complicated about this dish. At it’s core, it’s a pasta folded through a sauce, just like you would with a Bolognese, pesto or cream sauce.

If you’ve made any type of pureed, or even roasted, vegetables before then you can well and truly make this pumpkin sauce. All that is required is to roast pumpkin until completely tender, add it to a blender with some cream and blitz it all until silky smooth.

What is in it this pumpkin sauce for gnocchi?

This recipe requires 5 simple ingredients and costs less than a dollar per serve. Those ingredients are:

  • Pumpkin
  • Garlic
  • Salt
  • Cream
  • Gnocchi

How do I Store Pumpkin Gnocchi in the Fridge?

To store it in the fridge, first allow both the gnocchi and sauce to cool on the bench to room temperature. Place both in a separate airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week.

How Long Does Pumpkin Sauce with Gnocchi Last?

If you happen to make way too much or want to make a big batch for meal prepping, this recipe will last nicely in the fridge for a week (although it won’t be as good as when it’s fresh). If you are deliberately planning to make it in advance, I’d recommend storing the sauce and gnocchi separately from each other in individual airtight containers.

Can I Store it in the Freezer?

Unfortunately with this one, I wouldn’t suggest freezing it as gnocchi doesn’t respond too well to being frozen and can turn out mushy when thawed. If you must, you could freeze the sauce, but even then, it can go watery and ‘split’ when defrosted so don’t do it unless you’ve accidently made a gallons worth and would otherwise need to throw it out.

How do I Reheat it?

You can reheat Pumpkin Gnocchi by two methods; in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Microwave: Heat the sauce in a microwave safe dish for around a minute until hot. If it is a little bit thick, feel free to thin it out with a slash of milk. Heat the gnocchi in the microwave with a splash of water for around the same amount of time. Stir the gnocchi through the sauce and serve.

Stove: Add the pumpkin sauce to a pan over a medium flame and heat until warmed through. Add the cooked gnocchi and a splash of milk then stir through until well coated and the gnocchi is warmed through to the centre.

a pile of gnocchi coated in a creamy pumpkin sauce covered in strips of basil and grated cheese on a dark blue plate

Can I Make a Bigger Batch than in the Recipe?

Absolutely! This recipe is very forgiving and can be easily scaled without ruining it. Simply double the quantities of everything and you’ll be good to go!

Can I Make it in Advance?

Yes you can! You can very easily prepare the sauce the night before and store it in the fridge. Then, when you’re ready to serve, all you need to do is cook the gnocchi, mix it all together and enjoy. If you’re really pressed for time and want to be super organised, you can cook the gnocchi in advance as well, but it will be better if it’s cooked as close to serving as possible.

What if I Don't Like Pumpkin?

Well you’ve come a long way into this if you don’t like pumpkin. But if you don’t, you can substitute the pumpkin for and other pureed vegetable that you like… Except for something overly starchy like potatoes.

If you want, you can try out some other vegetable pastas like:

A plate of rigatoni pasta coated in a bright pink beetroot sauce topped with sunflower seeds and feta.
BEETROOT RIGATONI
A bird eye image of a bowl of spaghetti coated in a bright green sauce in a white bowl
PEA & BASIL SPAGHETTI

Troubleshooting

My Sauce is Too Runny

There’s very little chance of this sauce being too runny as you aren’t adding much liquid at all. In fact, there’s more of a chance of it being too thick as I’ve called for the bare minimum amount of cream so you can adjust it depending on how starchy your pumpkin is. But if you do feel it is too thin, leave it to simmer for a few minutes in the pan before stirring through the gnocchi. Don’t boil it too intensely as it could burn or ruin the texture of the sauce.

My Sauce is Too Thick

This is an easy fix and will most likely happen as it’s easier to fix it when it’s thick than too runny. If it is too thick, add about 1 tablespoon of milk and blend again. If it’s still too thick after that, repeat this process until it’s the consistency of thickened cream or a thin yoghurt. 

My Sauce Tastes Bland

The problem with working with natural products like pumpkin is that they can vary immensely in size, flavour and texture from one to the next. Make sure the pumpkin that you buy is a nice deep orange colour rather than very pale and muted. When they’re pale, it usually means that it’s underripe and won’t have as high of a sugar content or flavour. These underripe pumpkins taste very bland which results in a flavourless sauce. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to fix this as you can’t go back and re-ripen the pumpkin.

If your pumpkin was nice and ripe but your sauce is still tasting bland, make sure you have seasoned it properly with a pinch of salt. Taste it again and if it needs it a little bit more, add another small pinch. Just a note on this, be careful if you’re using a course salt as sometimes it mightn’t have fully dissolved before you taste it. This means that if it still isn’t tasting right and you add more, you could overdo it once the salt properly incorporates into the sauce. 

My Sauce is Gritty and Grainy

This is a result of your pumpkin not being cooked enough. The pumpkin should completely break down with a very light push with the back of spoon. If it’s not and it requires a bit of pressure or a knife to cut through it, pop it back in the oven for a few more minutes.

a pile of gnocchi coated in a creamy pumpkin sauce covered in strips of basil and grated cheese on a dark blue plate

Do the Pumpkin Pieces Need to be Exactly the Same Size?

Not entirely. The more uniform their size, the more evenly they will cook, but the goal is basically to get them as soft as possible then completely blitz them, so it really doesn’t matter too much.

You do still want them relatively uniform however, otherwise the the smaller pieces will burn before the bigger ones are soft.

Can I Roast the Pumpkin Whole?

You can, but it will take quite a lot longer to cook and you won’t get the same amount of flavour from the little charry bits that develop on the pumpkin when cut into smaller pieces.

Do I Have to Roast the Pumpkin?

Not necessarily. You could steam, microwave, boil or sauté the pumpkin if you’d prefer. However, roasting is by far my favourite method as you get so much more flavour by allowing to pumpkin to caramelise and char a little bit, giving it extra sweetness. Also, boiling and steaming will add a lot of extra liquid to the pumpkin which will make the sauce watery.

A tray of roasted cubed pumpkin with charred and caramelised edges

Do I Have to Use a Blender?

Again, not at all. You can use an immersion blender and food processor, a vitamiser or a blender. For all of my purees, I use my Braun Multi Quick 9.

Variations

As I mentioned earlier, this is a very forgiving recipe and will take well to different variations, flavourings and add-ins. The list of variations is relatively inexhaustive for this recipe, so you can try whatever you like, but I have included a few ideas for you below:

  • Add 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked bacon when mixing the sauce and pasta together
  • Add 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp of different spices when coating the pumpkin – try cumin, paprika, turmeric, or spice mixes like ras el hanout.
  • Stir through or top with a handful of fresh herbs like basil or parsley
  • Add different cooked vegetables like mushrooms or spinach
  • Add different meats – try shredded chicken or pulled pork
  • Add a tsp of Dijon mustard when pureeing the sauce
  • Top with sliced chillies if you’d like it spicy
  • Sprinkle over different soft cheeses to finish – try blue cheese, feta or ricotta
a pile of gnocchi coated in a creamy pumpkin sauce covered in strips of basil and grated cheese on a dark blue plate

Creamy Pumpkin Gnocchi

5 from 1 vote
This recipe is so simple to make and is absolutely delicious! The sauce is so creamy and velvety that you'd think it's heavy and calorie dense, when instead it's pretty much just vegetables. This makes it a great way to sneak more veggies into your diet without sacrificing flavour.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • ½ large butternut pumpkin
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup cream
  • 500 g gnocchi (store bought or homemade)
  • salt

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 180˚C
  2. Dice your pumpkin into roughly 2 cm cubes.
  3. Add them to a large bowl along with the garlic, salt and olive oil and mix until thoroughly coated.
  4. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 20-30 minutes until completely tender and caramelised with slightly charred and burnt edges.
  5. Allow to cool slightly then transfer to a food processor along with your cream and puree until velvety.
  6. If your sauce is still a little chunky, pass it through a sieve to remove any remaining chunks or fibrous bits of pumpkin.
  7. Prepare your gnocchi then toss through your sauce. 
  8. If it seems a little bit thick, add a splash of milk or cream to thin it out slightly.
  9. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese if you'd like and enjoy.

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Mon Mack Food is my little space to share my passion for food. It is also a place to document the recipes I’ve created while cooking for friends and family! While it is now just a hobby, my absolute dream is to build this project into something I can one day call my job 🙂

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