Recipe: Gnocchi with pumpkin sauce and hazelnuts

No slow cooker recipe this week! Instead I decided to throw together some pasta sauce with odds and ends in my fridge.

I made this up as I went along, so you can do the same by adapting the recipe to what’s in your fridge and pantry. For example, if you don’t have a jar of roasted red peppers on hand, use more pumpkin or carrots. If you want something less creamy, you can also cut the amount of neufchatel cheese by half, or use plain Greek yogurt or soy yogurt instead.

This recipe requires a blender or immersion blender and makes 4 servings.

Sauce ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, minced
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/3 cup roasted red peppers
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) neufchatel or cream cheese
• 1/4 cup beans and cooking liquid (optional)
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped
• salt and nutmeg to taste

To make sauce

1. Coat bottom of pan with olive oil and heat on medium low.
2. Saute garlic for a 2-3 minutes.
3. Add carrots and saute until soft.
4. Add pumpkin, peppers, neufchatel cheese, optional beans with liquid, and basil. Heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts.
5. Add salt and freshly grated nutmeg to taste.
6. Puree the sauce with a blender. (I used an immersion blender.)

To serve

1. Cook and drain an 18-ounce package of whole grain gnocchi following package directions.
2. Mix in the sauce.
3. Serve and top with hazelnuts as garnish.