Extreme Budget, Day Nine - Pumpkin Seed Pesto Squash Gnocchi

I found over a pound of pepitas in my freezer, refrigerator and cabinet and seriously needed to do something with them.

Every year I give a homemade food gift to each sibling. Last year it was an Italian roasted tomato salsa, the year before cheesecakes baked in a cookie tin and this year it will be spiced pepitas.

Even after making three large glassine bags I still had way too many seeds.
That's when I decided to make a Pepita Pesto. A few of them om the Internet simply swapped out the pine nuts for pepitas, but I wanted more southwest flavor than that. I finally found the recipe I was looking for over at Shutterbean who adapted hers from the Rachel Ray Magazine.

One of the vegetables for my Thanksgiving side this year is butternut squash. Even the small ones give up way to much meat so I took 1/3, roasted it off and made butternut squash gnocchi.

While gnocchi can be filling on it's own and well rounded nutrition-wise, I also made a small salad.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi
makes approximately 250 gnocchi
* 1 cup AP flour
* 1/2 cup chickpea flour
* 1/4 cup cornmeal
* 1 cup mashed roasted squash
* 1 egg

1. Mix everything together in a large bowl, adding more flour if needed to obtain a consistency of bread dough.
2. Roll a small amount into a rope and cut into 1" pieces. Using a butter paddle or the back of a dinner fork, roll each piece of dough down the utensil, pressing hard enough to make grooves and roll off.
3. Place gnocchi on a floured tea towel until they are all formed. Either freeze or cook in a pot of boiling salted water.

Pepita Pesto
makes 4 servings
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup parsley
* 1/2 cup cilantro
* 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
* 1/3 cup toasted pepitas
* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 3-4 shakes of hot sauce

In the bowl of a food processor, place parsley, cilantro, pepitas, pepper and garlic. While processor is running stream in olive oil until everything is emulsified. Remove pesto from processor and stir in cheese.

If pesto is too thick for the gnocchi, add small amounts of chicken or vegetable broth to get the right consistency. You want it to coat the pasta but not leave a puddle of pesto in the bottom of your bowl.
Serve remaining pesto on the side. Pasta continues to adsorb liquids while it is hot and you might need a spoonful when seated.

Cost for this meal: $4.42
Chicken Broth - $ .40
Squash - $ .80
Jalapeno - $ .22
Parsley & Cilantro - $1.00
1 egg - $ .27
Small salad - $ 1.73

Running total for 9 days: $24.07