Cooking with Carafoli: Fall Recipes From Friends

On trips to Italy, I buy fresh produce in the local markets and eat in restaurants. I am reminded of the emphasis on freshness and seasonal ingredients so important to Italians in their cooking. In restaurants, the waiter will often describe the fresh ingredients that just came in and the chef‘s preparation. If it is fall, I find a generous amount of porcini mushrooms mixed into pasta, and ravioli stuffed with a flavorful savory squash filling topped with Bolognese ragu or just sage butter. Dessert might consist of chestnut cake. Our local farm stands, farmers’ markets, and gardens have an abundance of fall seasonal produce and ingredients to choose from. It is the only time of year we can have a tomato, fruit, or vegetable without a sticker. Let’s take advantage of this bounty of fresh produce that is packed with flavor and readily available in our short growing season. The fall recipes here are inspired by people who passed through my life. I cherish recipes from my childhood and the people who gave them to me, many handwritten. Madeline Dante’s recipe for potato gnocchi inspired me to create squash gnocchi. Mary Ann Esposito’s caponata is now one of my staple recipes for fall, along with my dear Italian friend Julia Della Croce’s lamb and eggplant meatballs, friend and colleague Lisa Golden Schroeder’s versatile recipe for a wild mushroom-wine simmer sauce, and Bobbi’s Brown Bag Apple Pie, actually baked in a paper bag.

Squash Gnocchi

For years, I tried to find a good gnocchi dish in restaurants here. Never happened. In Italy, yes, but here no! They all horrified me. Madeline Dante was an Italian friend and neighbor in the Italian village where I grew up. She passed on several years ago. Madeline made the best potato gnocchi. One day I decided to adopt her recipe to squash gnocchi. Here it is. I use a large drier squash like Kabocha and Hubbard, Butternut will work, but you likely will need more flour to absorb the moisture. Peel, remove the seeds, and steam the squash until soft. Place squash in a bowl and mash with a potato masher until smooth. If it’s soft enough, I use a whisk.

I cook the squash for dinner, making extra, and refrigerate a day or two until I’m ready to make the gnocchi. Add a good dollop of butter, about ½ to ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. I do not measure, so use your discretion regarding the amounts.

Take the squash out of the refrigerator. Put a small mound of all-purpose flour on your counter or a cutting board and put the squash in the center of the flour. Incorporate the flour into the squash mixture with your hands, kneading lightly, keeping the texture soft and smooth. (I do not use the egg that most recipes call for.) Use only enough flour to bring the squash together.

Shape the dough into sausage-like rolls about 3/4-inch thick and about 10 inches long. Cut each roll into 1/2-inch pieces. Indent each piece by putting it on the inside curve of a fork and pressing it against the prongs with a fingertip; then, let drop to the counter.

To cook, drop the gnocchi, a dozen at a time, into 4 quarts or more of boiling salted water. When they float to the surface, let them cook 8 to 10 seconds more, then lift out with a slotted spoon, transfer to a heated casserole dish, and add a little red sauce that you’ve kept hot. Keep repeating the process for the remainder of the gnocchi. Pour the remaining sauce over the top; mix in the grated cheese. Serve immediately.

Note: Instead of serving the gnocchi with a red sauce, you can try a brown butter sauce with fresh sage.