We love getting our regular veg boxes. We know we’re keeping it local, we know we’ll get great produce and we know we’re keeping it seasonal too.
But every year autumn and winter roll around and pumpkin appears. I mean. I love a squash – one of those that’s closer to a courgette. My favourite is still them simply fried (in lamb fat if I can get it) sprinkled with salt, served as a side. But anything more like a pumpkin and I admit, I struggle.
Then this year I went to Surplus over at Beer Nouveau – not my first visit, and especially now they’ve moved to a weekly session, not my last. They had something somewhat unexpected.
Pumpkin gnocchi. So simple, and yet it blew my little brain. And so bloody delicious. Served with a cider cream and sage butter, they were absolutely delicious. I had to find a way to make them myself.
With the help of Google (other search engines are available) I found what I was looking for, and with a little inspiration from the TV, and what was in my cupboard/fridge, I came up with a pot roasted chicken to go with them. Oh and lots of greens from my veg box too.
The result is a great wintery recipe, one for snuggling in with, while the weather outside is distinctly frosty. I hope you enjoy it!
Cider Pot Roast Chicken with Pumpkin Gnocchi
Use up leftover pumpkin with this winter warmer
Ingredients
For the Gnocchi
- 200 grams Pumpkin (so weighing around 250g whole)
- 200 grams Floury potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed.
- 150-200 grams Plain flour (all depends on the moistness of your pumpkin!)
- 50 grams Grated Parmesan
- 1 Egg
- Seasoning (salt, pepper, pinch of grated nutmeg).
- 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil (1 tbsp for roasting the pumpkin, 1 tbsp for frying the gnocchi)
- 1 tbsp Butter for frying
For the Chicken
- 1 Chicken (around 2kg in weight)
- 1 Large cooking apple, peeled and chopped into chunks
- 1 Large onion, diced
- 350 ml British Cider of choice (medium to dry)
- 1 Bay leaf
- Thyme (1tsp dried, or 2-3 sprigs)
- 2 tbsp Dijon or grain mustard
- 175 ml Double cream
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
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Line a tray with parchment paper, and prepare your pumpkin(s).
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Halve, scoop out the seeds, rub with the rapeseed oil and season. Place sliced side down on the paper, and stab with a knife to let the steam escape (venting away a bad day optional).
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Pop into the oven for 40 minutes or so, until soft, remove and let them cool.
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While the pumpkin roasts, you can prepare the chicken. Pop an oven proof dish on a low heat on the hob and add the chicken.
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Brown the bottom of the chicken on the hob.
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Once it's nice and brown and some of the fat has rendered, add seasoning, onions, thyme, bay leaf, apples and cider.
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Pop on a lid, and put in the oven at the same temperature as the pumpkin. Handy, almost as if I'd planned it.
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The chicken will cook for 1 hour 45 minutes with the lid on, and the last 20 minutes or so without the lid so the breast can brown.
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Once the pumpkin is cooled, remove the skin, and let it sit in a paper towel lined colander for five minutes. This allows some of the excess liquid to drain off. You can always pop it into the sauce at the end if you don't want to waste the liquid.
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On a board (or in a large bowl) mix the drained pumpkin, potatoes, egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg and Parmesan.
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Once combined, add the flour a little at a time. You're looking for a soft dough, workable enough to mould into dumplings.
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Roll into sausages, and cut into pieces around 2cm in length.
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Shape the dough as you fancy, pressing with a fork, adding and indentation with your thumb, or using a gnocchi shaper if you have one. You fancy thing you.
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Lay them on a flour dusted tea towel, or some parchment paper, covered, til you're ready to cook them.
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To cook, heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil, and the butter in a pan, and fry until golden on each side.
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Once the chicken is ready, bring it out of the oven and gently remove it, and place it in a large dish.
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Skim off any fat, and remove the bay leaf, and the stem from the thyme.
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Put the oven dish on a medium heat on the hob. Use a wooden spoon to scrape off any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the mustard and cream.
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Cook through til it starts to thicken, before tipping into a jug for serving.
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Serve with any vegetables you fancy, a good helping of chicken, fried gnocchi and sauce.
