Roasted Pumpkin Gnocchi

This is an easy dinner that’s loaded with delicious vegetables and is full of flavour!

To make this meal, you will need:

• 1/2 Kent pumpkin
• 2 punnets of grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch of basil, finely sliced
• 1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1 Packet of gnocchi
• 180g packet pine nuts
• Olive oil, Salt & Pepper

First step, roast the pumpkin:

1. Preheat the oven with a roasting tray to 220C fan. Allow the roasting tray to heat up for at least 15 minutes.
2. While the roasting tray is heating up, remove the skin and dice the pumpkin to approximate 2x2x2cm cubes.
3. Once the roasting tray is hot, carefully take it out and add in a very generous glug of olive oil and carefully add in the cubed pumpkin. Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and stir to coat the pumpkin evenly.
4. Roast for 15 minutes and stir.
5. Roast for another 15 minutes and stir again.
6. The pumpkin will start to become a pumpkin mash. Roast for a further 10 minutes and stir again.
7. The pumpkin will start to caramelise. Keep roasting and stirring every 5 minutes to develop a deep caramel flavour.
8. Take the tray out of the oven allow the pumpkin mash to cool slightly in the tray.

To finish the dish, work quickly and methodically:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a tbs of salt.
2. While the water is coming to the boil, use a large saucepan to toast the pine nuts until brown on medium heat and set aside.
3. Using the same pan, add in a very generous amount of olive oil and slowly saute the garlic slices for about 10 minutes. The oil should be at about 90C.
4. When the water comes to the boil, cook the gnocchi. This will take about 1-2 minutes.
5. While the gnocchi is cooking, turn up the heat on the saucepan, add in the tomatoes, pumpkin mash, basil and parsley. Add a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to incorporate everything.
6. As soon as the gnocchi is cooked, use a slotted spoon to add the cooked gnocchi to the pumpkin mixture. Stir to incorporate with a little bit of the starchy water.
7. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts and serve immediately.