Vegan Pumpkin-Potato Gnocchi {Eat a Rainbow}

It's always a challenge to pick a recipe that can be done by a dozen kids - start to finish - in just less than 90 minutes. And, this time around, I have one vegan. But as one of my students, who happens to be a good family friend, rightly commented: "Without challenges, teaching this class would be too easy for you." Okay. I have to embrace that sentiment.

It's pumpkin season! So during this 'Orange' week of our 'Eat a Rainbow' class, I knew that we had to make something with pumpkin.

First up: make pumpkin puree.

Click to see how to make pumpkin puree.

For my 'Eat a Rainbow' class, I roasted the pumpkins night before and let them cool completely. Then, the kids scooped and mashed the pumpkin flesh to get about 2 cups of pumpkin puree.

Ingredients

• 2 C pumpkin puree
• 2 C mashed potatoes (we used Yukon gold to stay with the orange theme)
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/4 C olive oil
• vegetable stock + water for cooking gnocchi
• salt
• olive oil
• vinegar (we used a white balsamic vinegar)
• fresh herbs (we used mint and parsley)

Procedure
In a large mixing bowl, blend pumpkin puree and mashed potatoes. Add the olive oil and mash till smooth. Mix in the flour, slowly, until you get a medium - not stuff, but not sticky either - dough. It took us about 3/4 C by the time we were finished.

Using about 1/2 teaspoon of dough, form a ball and flatten it slightly with fork tines.

Bring vegetable stock and water to a boil in a large souppot. Gently drop the gnocchi into the pot. They will float when they are cooked. Because this is a fresh pasta, they cook very quickly - maybe a minute or two. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon.

To serve, sprinkle with salt, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar, and top with fresh herbs. Pronto al tavolo!