And suddenly it’s cold and rainy – summer is over – and fall is here! Now while I love summer, fall might be my all time favorite season, especially when it comes to food. One of the reasons for this: the glorious pumpkin! So I started this fall season with one of my most comforting pumpking dishes: a gnocchi-pumpkin gratin with minced meat and mozzarella cheese! If you prefer this recipe to be vegetarian, just cut out the meat and you’ll get a delicious and creamy pumkin-gnocchi gratin.

Ingredients (ca. 4 people):

• 500g gnocchi (store-bought)
• 1-2 onions, finely diced
• 2-3 garlic gloves, finely diced
• 1 medium sized pumkin, preferably Hokkaido or Butternut
• ca. 300g of minced meat (mixed)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 30g of tomato purée
• 1 dl of bouillon
• 1.5 dl of cream
• 2 Mozzarella Balls (ca. 250-300g), in slices
• Paprika, Salt & Pepper
• Olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (Celcius).
In a pan, heat a table spoon of olive oil and add the onions and garlic, sautée for 1-2 minutes. Add the minced meat, continue sautéeing. Season with a teaspoon of paprika, a bit of salt and pepper. After ca. 5 minutes, add the tomato purée, the canned tomatoes and the bouillon. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Then, add the cream and bring everytihng to the boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season to taste.
While the sauce is simmering, cut the pumpkin in half, take out the core and chop it into bite-sized pieces. If you use a Hokkaido or Butternut pumkin you do not have to peel those.
Coat an oven/gratin dish with a bit of oil.
Place the pumpkin pieces and the gnocchi in the dish, season with a bit of salt and pepper and mix well. Pour over the meat sauce and distribute evenly. Finally, cover the dish with mozzarella slices and bake for 30 minutes or until golden-brown and crispy – and enjoy!