By Alice Cottam, fourth year dental student

**Make the most of autumnal seasonal produce by indulging in homemade butternut squash gnocchi. The recipe contains few ingredients, so is the perfect main for a lavish dinner party on a budget. Turn this recipe gluten-free, by using gluten-free plain flour.

Serves: 3

What you will need:

• 400g Squash
• 120g ricotta
• 1 egg
• 200g plain flour
• 50g Italian hard cheese
• 1 packet of fresh sage
• 200g of spinach
• 50g of butter

Image:Epigram food contributor/Alice Cottam

Method:

1. Peel the butternut squash and dice into cubes, bring to boil for 20 mins with a dash of salt. Drain the water when the squash is soft.
2. Use a fork to mash the squash until it is a similar texture to a puree and leave to dry out
3. After some of texture of the puree has dried, begin to add the ricotta, Italian hard cheese, seasoning and the egg, stir gently until mixed
4. Add the flour and stir gently until all has combined to make a dough
5. Flour the surface and take a third of the mixture, roll into a long sausage and cut the dough to make the gnocchi shape
6. Place the gnocchi that you have cut into boiling water, allowing it to cook for two minutes until the gnocchi floats to the top
7. Whilst step 6 is happening, repeat step 5 until you run out of dough.
8. Once all the dough has been boiled, melt the butter into a frying pain, tear the sage and place into the melted butter.
9. Add the cooked gnocchi and allow it to fry, it’ll begin a golden colour when it has cooked (it will take 1-2 mins)
10. Add the spinach and allow it to wilt under the heat of the pan
11. Plate up your gnocchi and grate some Italian hard cheese on the top and spinkle a dash of pepper

Feature image: Epigram food contributor/Alice Cottam

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