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Gnocchi in a creamy roasted butternut squash sauce made with garlic and herbs, and topped with a delicious taleggio cream and crispy sage leaves. This dish is cosy, comforting and perfect for fall!
This is the perfect dish for Autumn. I absolutely love cooking with pumpkin and squash, and roasting it to make a rich, creamy and comforting sauce is one of my favourite ways to use it.
Since butternut squash has a lot of natural sweetness, I wanted to add a tangy, savoury note to balance it out, and the taleggio cream is perfect for that.
All you need to do is heat the cream and taleggio until the cheese is melted and the sauce has thickened slightly, then drizzle it on top of the gnocchi right before serving.
If you’re not in the mood for gnocchi, this sauce works really well with any short pasta shape too, such as rigatoni, paccheri or shells. Enjoy!
Ingredients, substitutes and adjustments
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It- Butternut squash: you can also use pumpkin for this recipe; just make sure you use a pumpkin or squash with orange flesh and not yellow, which tends to taste more savoury.
- Rosemary: I highly recommend using fresh rosemary, which has a beautiful fragrant flavour. Alternatively, you could use fresh thyme or dried oregano.
- Taleggio: This is one of my favourite Italian cheeses, and it pairs so well with squash. A good alternative would be gorgonzola, or you could add a generous amount of grated Parmigiano Reggiano instead.
Recipe tips
Adding meat: you can add pancetta, guanciale or sausage to this dish too. Just fry it in the pan before adding the roasted butternut squash sauce. You can set aside some crispy pancetta for topping too.
Taste the sauce for seasoning: after blitzing the roasted squash, taste the sauce and add more salt if it’s needed. You can also opt to add more Parmigiano or cream if you want.
Use pasta water to adjust the consistency: Once you’ve added the gnocchi to the boiling water, you’ll have some starchy water, which is perfect for emulsifying the butternut squash sauce. I add about 1/2 cup (120ml), but add more if it’s needed. You can always add more water after adding the gnocchi to the sauce too.
More squash recipes to try
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Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Taleggio Cream
Ingredients
Taleggio cream
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream, (double cream UK)
- 100 g (3.5 oz) taleggio cheese, rind removed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F fan or 200C/400F conventional.
- Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into quarters and trim off the skin using a knife. Chop the squash into medium-sized cubes and place in a baking tray.
- Add the 2 garlic cloves (skins on), remove the rosemary from the sprigs and add it to the tray with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle over 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and toss so everything is coated. Roast in the oven for around 35-40 minutes, until cooked through.
- While the squash is cooking, make the crispy sage leaves.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. Once hot, add the sage leaves and fry them for 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. Set aside.
- Once cooked, blitz the squash with garlic (skins removed), rosemary, heavy cream and Parmigiano cheese until smooth using a food processor or blender (I did this in a bowl with an immersion blender). Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
- Transfer the squash sauce to a large pan and bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, add the heavy cream and taleggio to a separate saucepan over medium-low heat until the cheese has melted and the cream has thickened slightly. Keep the taleggio sauce on a low heat, stirring occasionally while you cook the gnocchi.
- Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. At the same time, heat the squash sauce over medium heat and add around ½ cup/120ml of pasta water to loosen it to a saucy consistency,
- Transfer the gnocchi to the sauce and stir until well coated. Add more pasta water if needed.
- Serve the gnocchi in bowls, drizzle over the taleggio cream, then top with crispy sage and serve.
Notes
- Prep in advance: you can prepare the butternut squash sauce in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add it to a pan and loosen it with pasta water when ready to serve. The taleggio cream is best served immediately.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
