A local restaurant in Pittsburgh, DiAnoia's Eatery, serves a gnocchi bowl in a pumpkin. It's cheesy and creamy so I wanted to create a lighter vegan version. These vegan pumpkin gnocchi bowls are fall in a bowl. It is perfect for Thanksgiving, ThanksLiving or a Friendsgiving dinner, or even on Halloween before trick or treating. It's fairly simple to make so it can also be made for any kind of occasion, even a Wednesday night!
For the pumpkin bowls I used pie pumpkins, also known as sugar pumpkins. When picking your pumpkins, pick smaller pumpkins. Because these are individual servings in each pumpkin, you don't want them too large. Wash your pumpkin, and slice the tops off, about an inch down from the stem. Scoop out all of the seeds and as much of the stringy pumpkin that you can. Set the seeds aside for roasting if you wish!
Rub a little olive oil, salt and pepper on the inside of your pumpkins and around the tops. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is fork tender.
While your pumpkins are baking, prepare your gnocchi sauce. In a large sauté pan, pour in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add one chopped onion and cook until the onions are softened. Add three minced garlic cloves and cook for a minute more. Add one can of pumpkin puree, one can of coconut milk, ½ cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, ½ teaspoon of ground sage, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of pepper and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook for 10 minutes or so until the sauce is creamy. Add ½ cup of vegan parmesan cheese and 5 ounces of spinach. Stir until the spinach is wilted.
While your sauce is cooking, prepare your vegan gnocchi according to package directions. I used 2 pounds to make sure I'd have enough to fill 4 pumpkins. Once it's cooked, and the sauce is finished, pour the gnocchi into the sauce and stir to combine.
You can always stop right here and just enjoy the gnocchi in a regular bowl. If you're doing the pumpkin bowls, once the pumpkins are done, just pour your gnocchi into the pumpkin bowl and top with its lid. The pumpkins are also edible, minus the stem and top, because they're cooked through! This recipe is enough to fill 4-6 sugar pumpkins. Because pumpkins vary in size, you may not be able to fill the pumpkins all the way to the top, or you also may have some gnocchi leftover that won't fit in the pumpkins.
Vegan Pumpkin Gnocchi Bowls
Ingredients
- 4 small sugar pumpkins
- 2 pounds vegan gnocchi, prepared according to package directions
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teapoon cinnamon
- 5 ounces spinach
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese I used Follow Your Heart brand
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash your pumpkins, and slice the tops off, about an inch down from the stem. Scoop out all of the seeds and as much of the stringy pumpkin that you can. Set the seeds aside for roasting if you wish. Bake your pumpkins for 30 minutes or until your pumpkins are fork tender.
- In a large sauté pan, add the extra virgin olive oil. Add the onion and cook until the onions are softened. Add the garlic cloves and cook for a minute more. Add the pumpkin puree, coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk, salt, ground sage, nutmeg, pepper and cinnamon. Cook for a few moments until the sauce is creamy. Add the vegan parmesan cheese and spinach. Stir until the spinach is wilted. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Add your cooked gnocchi to the pumpkin sauce. Stir to combine. Pour in your cooked pumpkins and top with the pumpkin lids. Serve and enjoy!!
Leave a Reply