I’ll warn you right now – making gnocchi is not for the faint of heart.  Fingers must be gentle and patience must be leveraged.  Counter-space will most certainly include a layer of renegade flour when the last batch finishes cooking.  Must be a quick-thinker and a multitasker.

No joke.  You will be developing a singular relationship with this dough over the course of two hours.

This is especially true with butternut squash gnocchi – as opposed to the time-honored russet potato or Yukon Gold gnocchi.

On a bad day, gnocchi can be a pain in the butt for any experienced chef.  Make gnocchi when you’re feeling good.

Butternut squash gnocchi sauteed in a butter Sage sauce, with roasted parmesan broccoli and sauteed creamy mushrooms. Little pillows of delicately soft and fluffy dumplings.

In final raw form, gnocchi dough should be fluffy and delicate.  They are clouds or soft pillows in dough form – unlike the silky, heavy egg-pasta dough and unlike the wet, sloppy spaetzle.

Rolling and cutting the dough into individual gnocchi pieces, and finally molding them with the signature gnocchi indentations must be done with the lightest touch of floured fingers.  Care must be taken when handling the pieces and transferring them to a floured holding pen until they are boiled.  Even after cooking, the gnocchi can be torn, squished under the weight of leftover gnocchi, or mashed easily.

Yes, gnocchi can be frozen – the internet recommends gnocchi be frozen only after it has been boiled.  Freezing dough will yield a different texture than fresh, so keep that in mind.  A much younger me wouldn’t care, preferring thick, dense, and chewy dumplings.

These days, especially after all of the work that goes into the dish, I very much appreciate and love the delicate baby dumplings that are much loved all over the world.

Throwing in special ingredients such as butternut squash simply alters the moistness of the batter which requires a few smart moves to reduce the amount of water – or a whole lot of flour (not desired).

Here is how to make it.