Serves 2-3
Ingredients
¼ cup hazelnuts (get fresh New Zealand ones if you can)
1 small buttercup pumpkin
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp honey
100g good quality unsalted butter (I used Lewis Road Creamery)
300g gnocchi
1 bunch fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped (about half a cup)
1 tsp lemon zest
Grana padano or parmesan, to garnish
Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to garnish
1. Take the hazelnuts and dry toast in a frying pan on a high heat for a couple of minutes. Roughly chop and set aside.
2. Slice buttercup, skin-on, into thin crescent wedges, and roast at 200C with a little olive oil, honey, and chilli flakes, for about 30 minutes, until golden and caramelised.
3. Make gnocchi according to instructions, or buy fresh-frozen gnocchi, and cook in boiling water according to instructions. Leave in water until ready to add to sauce.
4. In a frying pan, add butter. Heat on a medium-high heat until nearly all melted, then add your chopped sage leaves.
5. Cook a couple of minutes, until the butter starts to brown and the leaves start to go crispy. Add the gnocchi, and stir to coat in the butter. Cook for a further couple of minutes, being careful not to allow the butter to burn.
6. Remove from the heat and add lemon zest. Add the hazelnuts, and serve on a plate with the roasted buttercup.
Garnish with grana padano or parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Serve with Palliser Chardonnay 2014.