I’m a huge Italian food fan and gnocchi is no exception. A few weeks ago, I had an incredible chicken potato gnocchi with squash and kale at one of my favorite local restaurants, Bills in Bloomfield Hills. Their gnocchi consisted of chicken veloute, delicata squash, cipollini onions, kale and pecorino. Although I didn’t find an exact match online, I found a similar recipe that proved to be just as delicious.
I had never made squash before, so cutting it was very difficult for me. Thankfully I got a few suggestions from my friends on how to cut it, although it was after I cut it so I’ll definitely use their tips in the future. The way I did it is:
1. Cut off the ends.
2. Cut it in half.
3. Shave off the skin with a peeler.
4. Cut the halves in half so it the squash is now in quarters. Scoop out the seeds.
5. Slice the squash into 1/2 inch slices.
6. Roughly chop the squash into 1-2″ wide pieces.
This was incredibly time consuming and difficult to do, since the squash was very hard and difficult to peel/cut. Instead, some of the tips I received were to:
Suggestion 1: Cut the squash in half, microwave seed down for a few minutes and let it cool until peeling. (Thanks Tara!)
Suggestion 2: Poke holes in the squash with a fork, microwave for 5 minutes, then cut in half and peel/cut. (Thanks Alex!)
So basically it looks like you need to warm up the squash in order to soften it so it’s easier to peel/cut. If anyone has any other suggestions, please shoot me a message or leave a comment so I can try it out!
Now that we’ve got the squash debacle out of the way, it’s time to move onto the rest of the recipe. I love onions, so I added thinly sliced onions to my recipe. I used one onion, which seemed to be just enough.
I added both the squash and onions to a lightly buttered pan (squash and onions) and sauteed for about 10-15 minutes over medium heat, basically until the squash is softened and the onions are translucent (or golden, depending on how you like your onions).
After the above veggies are ready, add some thinly sliced garlic, sage and salt. Keep sauteing!
Then pour in the chicken broth and give it about 2 minutes to simmer (lightly bubble).
In the meantime, de-stem the kale, roughly chop it, add it into the simmering chicken broth and cook it for about 2 minutes.
Then add the gnocchi, making sure all of the gnocchi is covered by the broth veggie mixture so it cooks properly and cover the pan with aluminum foil.
Gnocchi takes a really short amount of time to cook, so only cook it for about 5 minutes and check to see if the noodles are tender. Also, side note on the gnocchi. In this recipe, I used gluten free gnocchi since I’ve been having some (possible) gluten issues but obviously you can use any kind of gnocchi you want. If you do want gluten free, I recommend the DeLallo Mini Gnocchi (as shown below). DeLallo also makes non-gluten free gnocchi.
Then add the Parmesan cheese (you can also use pecorino cheese but I have no clue what this is and was too lazy to go to the store to look for it). I had a block of Parmesan in my fridge, so I grated since I like mine fresh instead of from those plastic cylinder containers–your call though. And at the same time, add butter and stir it all together to let the cheese melt, so about 3 minutes.
INSTEAD of cooking the cheese this way though, you can also broil it for about 3 minutes so it has more of a crisp, golden brown color on top. I found mixing the cheese with the mixture and letting it melt that way was easier for me but again, your call on how you like your cheese cooked! Buon appetito!
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2″ x 1-2″ pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped sage
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 bunch baby kale, stemmed and roughly chopped (about 8 cups)
- 1 17.5 oz package potato gnocchi
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
Directions
- Cut, de-seed and peel squash. Cut into 1/2″ x 1-2″ slices. Peel and thinly slice the onion. Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the squash and onion and cook, stirring, until slightly soft and golden, about 8 minutes.
- Add garlic, sage and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until the garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
- Add chicken broth to the skillet and allow to simmer.
- De-stem and roughly chop the kale. Add to simmering chicken broth mixture and cook it until it wilts slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add the gnocchi, stirring to coat. Cover and cook until the gnocchi are just tender, about 5 minutes.
- Slowly stir in 3/4 cup parmesan and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Cook until cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
Let me know if you made it and what you think (and how you cut your squash). Enjoy!
xoxo Kasia
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