Pumpkin Gnocchi, Confit Tomato & Sauce Vierge
The nice people at Dell'Ugo sent me some of their new fresh pumpkin gnocchi to mark its launch into Waitrose, so I thought I'd try and recreate a dish I had at The Spaniard last summer which used lovely heritage tomatoes and a fine balance of lemon, basil and olive oil all set off with goats curd to make a light but satisfying summer lunch.
Here's The Spaniard's version:
Gnocchi isn't that tricky to make yourself at home - its just cooked potato put through a ricer with flour and egg, then rolled and left to cool - but it does take a but longer than you'd probably want to spend on a weeknight after work. As fresh gnocchi takes literally no time at all (this one is ready in under a minute) I didn't mind putting some time in and confit-ing some tomatoes. Long slow gentle cooking brings out the natural sweetness of tomatoes, and the multicoloured baby tomatoes in season at the moment work particularly well this way. Just put a good slug of olive oil in a pan on the lowest heat possible and add the tomatoes. Don't jiggle them about too much or they'll disintegrate, but after 20-25 minutes or so you should be rewarded with the nicest tasting tomatoes ever.
Dell'Ugo's gnocchi is all made with fresh potato, not dried, so there's no need to boil them in the normal manner if you don't want to. I simply tossed them throughfor a minute in a saucepan with the finished tomatoes, lots of lemon, basil, capers and olive oil and finished with some ricotta. Don't scrimp on the capers as you'll need them to balance the sweet tomatoes and the pumpkin.
A lovely little dish for #meatfreemonday and a nice change from standard pasta (and even quicker to cook).
You should also check out their fresh foccaccias, which would be lovely with this for a more substantial carb-fest. I'm still dribbling over the memory of the bone marrow foccacia I made with the one they sent me. Mmmm.
Thanks Dell'Ugo for your delicious fresh pasta wares. Do go and pick some up from Waitrose next time you're in there. £2.29 a pack.