Butternut Squash Gnocchi (Vegan)
Updated: Jan 28, 2021
Sometimes I cook vegan because I have a friend who is and I am a kitchen wizard and enjoy the challenge. For those who feel vegan cooking must be weak in flavor or overly complex to make, I weep for your lack of imagination--or is it a lack of skill?
Shade throwing aside, this recipe is very simple and can easily be made non-vegan by substituting dairy parm and pork bacon. The essence remains the same. I will also include the specific brands I used in parentheses. Adjust as you please.
Ingredients
32 oz uncooked gnocchi (2 packs of Archer Farms from the grocery store)
32 oz cubed butternut squash (raw, not frozen)
7 oz vegan bacon (1 pack of Tofurky Treehouse Tempeh Smokey Maple Bacon)
4 oz vegan parm (1 pack Follow Your Heart Parmesan Style Shredded Cheese Alternative)
olive oil
Herbs & Spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, rubbed sage
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss butternut in olive oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Bake at 400 for about 20-25 min until fork-tender, turning halfway through.
While butternut is roasting, fill a large pot halfway with water. Salt liberally. Bring to a boil.
Add gnocchi to boiling water and cook until all are floating, about 3-5 min.
Drain gnocchi but keep 3 cups of pasta water in reserve. Toss cooked gnocchi in olive oil to prevent sticking.
Combine the following for the sauce and blend until desired consistency. Add more pasta water if needed, and taste to make sure it is seasoned to your liking: -- cooked butternut -- 2 cups pasta water -- hearty glug of olive oil -- heavy pinch of sage -- about 1/4 cup by volume of vegan parm
Toss cooked gnocchi in butternut sauce.
Bring a shallow pan to medium-high heat. Add olive oil to coat. Cook vegan bacon 2 min on each side to brown.
For plating, top butternut gnocchi with crumbled vegan bacon, a generous amount of vegan parm, drizzle of olive oil, and pinch of sage.
There are so many powerful flavors that come through on this--fruity zing of the squash and spices, a little grassiness from the sage and olive oil, creaminess of the parm, smokiness of bacon, which also adds crunch to contrast the chew of gnocchi. Great fall tastes.
Serves 4
#recipes #homecooking #autumn #writerskitchen #vegan