Recipe: gnocchi with pumpkin sauce by FREDDY TRATLEHNER (a.k.a. VJEZE FUR)

Freddy Tratlehner alias Vjeze Fur doesn’t look beyond the Dutch border in his new cookbook Lekker Fred in het land, but takes you on a journey of discovery through our own provinces. Freddy searches for the very best local ingredients, with which he makes the tastiest dishes, such as gnocchi with ‘pumpkin sauce’.

How to make the gnocchi

• Bring plenty of water to the boil. Boil the potatoes in their skins for 30 minutes until tender. Let them cool until you can just hold them without burning your fingers, then peel off the skin. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or (even better) a ricer or food mill.
• Mix the purée with the salt, 100 grams of paramagiano and three-quarters of the flour. Knead until you have a firm, slightly sticky dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a little extra flour.
• Dust your worktop with flour and divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll the dough into 4 rolls 2 centimetres thick, then cut them into thumb-sized pieces. Lightly dust the gnocchi with flour and roll them over a gnocchi board or a fork. The ridges help the sauce cling better. This will keep you busy for a while, but you wanted to do this yourself.
• Bring plenty of salted water to the boil. Add the gnocchi in batches. When they float to the surface, let them cook for about another 10 seconds. Remove the gnocchi from the cooking water with a slotted spoon and keep them on a lightly greased dish.

How to make the pumpkin sauce

• Heat some olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the garlic and shallot. Add the tomato purée and pumpkin and stir well. Fry for 5 minutes, tossing regularly.
• Add the sherry tomatoes and 200 millilitres of cold water
  and season with salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce with the lid on the pan for about 20 minutes.
• Stir the gnocchi into the sauce and heat through briefly. Divide the gnocchi between the plates. Crumble the goat’s cheese over it and garnish with the basil.

Title: Lekker Fred in het land
Author: Freddy Tratlehner
Price: €27,50
Publisher: Carrera Culinair

Read also:

• How to peel a pumpkin easily
• Three types of pizza à la Vjeze Fur
• Vjeze’s perfect French omelette